Pray for North Korea

Known as the “Hermit Kingdom,” North Korea isolates its people from the outside world. The government’s extreme secrecy makes it difficult to know exactly how North Koreans live. Since the country’s formation in 1948, the people have lived under the strict totalitarian rule of the Kim family and the Workers’ Party of Korea. All political opposition is prohibited, and the government rigidly controls the information coming into and out of the country. The leadership cult of Kim Jong Un, along with his philosophy of self-reliance, or Juche, has shaped the North Korea we see today. From a young age, children are taught to revere the Kim family and limit personal differences. Everything from education to the arts is designed to reinforce political ideology and obedience to the state.

Much of North Korea is rural and underdeveloped. With a shortage of farmland in its mountainous terrain and recurrent natural disasters, more than 40 percent of the population is malnourished. The government’s controlled economy and trade restrictions leave farmers without modern fertilizers and machinery. Instead of addressing this crippling humanitarian crisis, the country prioritizes military and weapons development. The government tightly controls every aspect of its citizens’ lives. To sustain its struggling economy, children and adults are forced to labor for the state, living on only 10–20 percent of their wages. The North Korean government has been accused of torture, slavery, public executions, forced abortions, and infanticide, as well as detaining anywhere from 80,000 to 200,000 political prisoners.

Once called the “Jerusalem of the East,” Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, can no longer claim that title, as many of its Christians fled to South Korea during the Korean War. Instead, the doctrine of Juche has become a religion, with the Kims as its deities. Information about the Church in North Korea today is limited, but it is known to be alive in the face of intense persecution. It has become an underground Church, where meetings and worship must be held in secret, and members know that if they are caught, they will be thrown into prison or sent to a labor camp. Due to intense government control of the media, most North Koreans have never heard the name of Jesus.