What Christianity Can Cost in North Korea: The Story from a Closed Country

North Korean Christians risk everything to follow Jesus. Many have a story to tell similar to Yong Sook’s family, but some manage to live in secret. The following story is based on testimonies from Christians in North Korea.

“It was early in the morning,” says an elderly North Korean woman whom we call Yong Sook in this article. She currently lives in South Korea.

“Mother was preparing breakfast when there was a knock on our door. I ran to the door in my slippers and opened it. Five police officers rushed in without taking off their shoes. I was really shocked. We were all scared and afraid.”

In North Korea, the Bible is a treasure that must be hidden. Prayers must not be said aloud and Christian songs must not be sung. The country consistently tops the World Watch List’s persecution report due to the Kim regime’s hostility towards Christianity. Yong Sook had to endure all this hardship.

Home search and arrest

Yong Sook had no idea why the police raided their home. She was scared and confused when her loved ones were arrested. Why?

“Nobody came to comfort me,” she says.

“We had to sit in the corner all day and watch all our shelves being torn apart. They seemed to be looking for thick books. I thought they might be looking for a weapon hidden in a book.”

It wasn’t like that. The names of Yong Sook’s family members were on the arrest list. Her father and grandfather were arrested that day.

“We lived in fear”

Yong Sook’s 83-year-old grandfather denied his faith and blamed everything on his son. He was released because of his age.

“He was very afraid of what would be done to him,” says Yong Sook. “He was a real secret Christian. My father was not religious, but his name was on the list. My grandfather lied in fear and blamed everything on his father. The police believed him and the grandfather got home.”

Yong’s father was arrested. In the following months, life was difficult for the family.

“We lived in fear,” Yong Sook remembers. “Every day in our beautiful home in Pyongyang could be the last of our lives.”

With that comes the reality of a prison camp

It had been six months since his arrest when Yong Sook’s father unexpectedly returned home to his family in Pyongyang. One look at him was enough to reveal the reality of the horrors of the prison camp. Everyone had heard about them all their lives.

“Dad was skin and bones. He looked like a skeleton,” says Yong Sook.

“My father was more dead than alive. He was depressed and quiet. Before his arrest, he had a good job as a railway station manager. Now he had to carry the luggage onto the trains. He was seriously afraid that he would be arrested again.”

Yong’s father’s return also changed his grandfather.

“From the day that grandfather saw his son again, he never spoke to him again. Not a single word. He felt so guilty. He couldn’t even look at his son in the eye.”

According to Yong Sook, her father never talked about his experiences in prison. He only talked about how one day he was called to the prison yard where about 140 people were standing. They too were arrested as alleged Christians and were listed as members of a Christian network.

The gate slowly opened and the whole group was told to walk out. When the prisoners started to move, the guards called by name those who had to return. Yong Sook’s father denied that he was a Christian and so did about half the prisoners. They were allowed to leave.

Those who did not hide their faith returned to their cells and probably died in the labor camp.

Eventually, Yong Sook’s entire family—four generations—was sent to a remote village. There they were forced to work for the government. Now they were in the “enemy category” of North Korea.

Between heaven and earth

We, Western Christians, take it for granted that we are free to practice our faith. Unlike Yong Sook’s grandfather, we can read the Bible in public in cafes. We can even sing hymns in the street.

From the perspective of many persecuted Christians, our freedom is a tremendous privilege.

Weeks after his miraculous conversion, Paul preached the gospel in the synagogue and the Jewish leaders plotted to kill him. Acts 9 tells how they watched day and night at the city gates of Damascus to kill Paul.

However, Paul learned of their plan and during the night his followers lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.

Like Paul in the basket, Yong Sook’s grandfather and our other North Korean sisters and brothers hang between heaven and earth in many ways. They have to fight every day to survive. They live in the midst of fear and uncertainty as they practice the Gospel.

“Father’s love is wonderful”

Although Christians in North Korea have had to suffer on earth, the promise of heaven lives strongly in their hearts. They must constantly consider how to practice their faith. Yong Sook’s grandfather never recovered from his lie, but it’s not hard to see how desperate he was.

North Korean Christians risk everything to follow Jesus. Many have a story to tell similar to Yong Sook’s family, but some manage to live unnoticed.

Even if serving God puts them in a position of vulnerability to the earthly government, following Jesus is worth it.

As the North Korean Christian once said: “Father’s love is wonderful. We are the debtors of His love. I want to walk the path of faith and be obedient until death. Tell God’s people who are constantly coming to our aid that we are going to express the Father’s love through our lives here in North Korea.”

Source: Mitä kristinusko voi maksaa Pohjois-Koreassa: Tarina suljetusta maasta | Open Doors Finland