North Korea has sentenced a two-year-old to life in a penal camp after the toddler’s parents were found with a Bible.
The fate of the child, whose entire family was also imprisoned, was disclosed in the US State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report.
The publication also uncovered several cases of North Koreans being killed because of their Christianity, such as the 2011 execution of a Christian woman and her grandchild by firing squad.
In another case, a member of the ruling party was executed in front of 3,000 spectators at Hyesan Airport after a Bible was found on them.
Other believers were tortured with pigeons, being hung up with their hands tied behind their backs and unable to sit or stand for days.
Worshipers at the Chilgol Protestant Church in Pyongyang. A US report has revealed that North Koreans are being killed for their Christianity
The report cites an estimate that as many as 70,000 Christians are imprisoned for their faith under Kim Jong-Un’s regime, out of a possible population of 400,000
“It was the most painful of all tortures,” recalled one victim. “It was so painful that I felt it was better to die.”
Others were tortured with sleep deprivation.
According to the report, a Christian woman in solitary confinement was driven to suicide in 2020 after prison guards refused her sleep.
Other horrors Christians endure include starvation, dehydration, spoiled food, beatings, and being forced into agonizing postures for long periods of time.
The report – which summarizes the findings of various non-governmental organizations, human rights groups and the United Nations – paints a disturbing picture of Christian life in North Korea.
It cites an estimate that up to 70,000 Christians are imprisoned for their faith under Kim Jong-Un’s regime, out of a possible population of 400,000.
North Korea is said to guarantee freedom of religion for its people in its constitution – and the regime is citing the churches it has built in Pyongyang as proof of this.
However, the publication states that these churches merely function as “showpieces for foreigners”.
It quoted the testimony of a defector who said people could be arrested if they stayed too long outside churches, listening to music inside, or even constantly driving past them.
Choristers in the church of Pyongyang. American Ray Cunningham attended the church and said, “I wondered how real this is.”
Chilgol Protestant Church in Pyongyang. North Korea calls the churches it has built in Pyongyang “proof” of its religious tolerance
Ray Cunningham from Illinois visited the Chilgol Protestant Church in Pyongyang during a service.
He said, “I was wondering how real this is.”
“Are the services regular? The church appears to be well maintained, but is it a regular event? In society one sees no sign of religious activity – except in Buddhism.
“It feels real, but like many other things, it could be more of a show for tourists.” In this case, it could be a mixture of grandstanding and a few older Christians in the area.”
He also noted something highlighted in the report: There are no children attending the services.
“The congregation was made up of older men – apparently all over 65 – and women over 40,” he said.
“What you didn’t see were children or young people of working age.”
The US State Department publication said many North Korean Christians are hiding their faith from their children.
It cited a statement by one NGO, Open Doors USA, which said: “A Christian is never safe.”
“Children are encouraged to tell their teachers about every sign of faith in the home.”
Another NGO, Korea Future, said children are taught at school about the “evil acts” of Christian missionaries, including “rape, blood-sucking, organ harvesting, murder and espionage.”
According to the report, “A defector told Korea Future that the government had published graphic novels in which Christians lured children into churches and took them to the basement to draw their blood.”
And while most of the cases of religious persecution documented by Korea Future were directed at those who practiced shamanism, it was usually Christians who received the harshest punishments.
This is because they are perceived as a “hostile class” and a “serious threat to loyalty to the state,” the report said.
For followers of shamanism, sentences range from six months in a forced labor camp to three or more years in a re-education facility.
Christians, on the other hand, can be executed or face a sentence of between 15 years and life imprisonment in a prison camp, imposed on up to three generations of the immediate family of the person found guilty.
The report reiterated Open Doors USA’s conclusion that “life for Christians is a constant pressure vessel; Capture or death is only one mistake away.
Instead of religion, the Kim family calls for worship for themselves and their Juche ideology — which means national self-reliance, the publication says.
These offered a “form of state-sponsored theology,” it said.
The report states: “Although the ideology does not explicitly state that the leaders are gods, they are described as ‘extraordinary beings’ capable of supernatural feats.”
One defector described being taught that bullets would change course instead of hitting Kim Il-Sung, the country’s founder and grandfather of Kim Jong-Un.