« In this totalitarian communist state, Christians are forced to hide their faith completely from government authorities, neighbors and often, even their own spouses and children, » the group writes. « Due to ever-present surveillance, many pray with eyes open, and gathering for praise or fellowship is practically impossible. »
The only worship allowed is of the ruling Kim family, and it is mandated for every citizen. Failure to do so results in arrest, imprisonment, torture or death. Entire families are sent to hard labor camps, where many die from torture, beatings, overexertion and starvation, Open Doors reports.
Any caught trying to flee to democratic South Korea through China could be executed or sentenced to life in prison.
Olivia Enos writes at Forbes that little has been done to improve human rights and religious freedom in North Korea since the United Nations’ Commission of Inquiry in February 2014 found that leader Kim Jong Un’s regime was guilty of crimes against humanity, including persecution of Christians.
North Korea’s estimated 200,000 to 400,000 Christians face the harshest of persecution, Enos writes. According to North Koreans who had escaped the brutal regime, those who had met Christians had faced even harsher punishment, sent to political prison camps worse than normal prison camps.
« The brutal Kim regime has been known to throw three generations of a family into political prison camps just for possessing a Bible or practicing Christianity, » she writes.
It is in the U. S. government’s interest to curtain the persecution, Enos argues, because it is used by the Kim regime to maintain power and pose an existential threat to the United States and its allies through its nuclear program.
