The non-governmental organization Korea Future released a new report on the violations of religious freedom in North Korea. The report includes eyewitness accounts exposing the persecution suffered by Christians in the country.
North Korea has long been identified as the worst country in the world for the Christian faith. The country’s closed nature made it difficult to obtain data on the existence of Christian practice. The study and interviews were conducted during November 2019 and August 2021. It provides the details on the detention and torture of North Korean Christians in the last decade. The report says that 167 documented cases of serious human rights violations against 91 Christians between 1997 and 2019.
For keeping religious articles, 34 people were arrested and 21 arrested for practicing their religion. “When it could be established that the detainees had been associated with Christianity, their crime was considered ‘political’ and they were transferred from the detention centers, or to internment camps, which are administered by the Ministry of State Security,” the report says.
From an interview held for two months in a cell, they used to pray on the cell that was hidden from the CCTV camera, but if they were caught praying, they were beaten every morning for 20 consecutive days. The report also revealed that several North Koreans were exposed to Christianity for the first time while in China.