Christianity In North Korea Essay

This paper will delve into the little known aspects of North Korea. Hopefully, a better understanding of the country’s characteristics can benefit both the neighboring

It’s easy to imagine that the Holocaust is behind us and that the Earth is moving towards a bright future. However, in many countries around the world, people are still being treated as less than human beings! North Korea is one of these countries, but many people do not understand what is happening there. In fact, North Korea is currently quite different than many other modern societies largely because of its immensely restricted human rights.

are specifically targeted. Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, is known for having many Christians.

The country of North Korea has long been under the watchful eye of not only the United States but also the United Nations for many years over concerns of it nuclear weapons program but now, they are being looked at for an entirely different reason. Recent reports about the inhuman treatment of an estimated 200,000 North Korean citizens in the countries six political prison camps are been closely looked at. These reports show the mistreatment, starvation, and even unlawful killing of North Korean citizens from everything from owning a Bible to watching soap operas.

In North Korea, citizens are forced to view their leader as their god. In doing so, North Korean government does not allow any freedom of religion. The government fears any organized religion, as “Organized religion is seen as a potential threat to the regime and therefore nothing apart from token churches built as a facade of religious freedom for foreign visitors are allowed,” (LibertyinNK). Although organized religion does secretly exist in North Korea, the government makes strong efforts to shut down any organized religion. They fear that organized religion will cause citizens to have conflicting beliefs of those held by the state. The state takes the crime seriously, “officials have arrested, imprisoned, tortured, and sometimes executed North Korean citizens who are found to have ties with overseas Christians, “ (USCIRF). Freedom of religion is a basic human right, but North Korean citizens are severely punished when they try to exercise this right.

Human Rights Watch. "World Report 2015: North Korea." Italicized Title of Periodical. (2015): Web. 27 April 2016. .

People try to leave North Korea to go to democratic countries because they have no religious freedom, public executions, and collective punishments. Organized Religion in North Korea can be seen as a threat to the regime. Thousands of Christians and Buddhist people have been killed all through the history of North Korea. People who are caught studying or spreading the religion secretly are punished terribly. For example, they can be executed publicly or be

For me to begin to process the lives of those who have suffered in the East, I must critically evaluate their beliefs and actions. According to the story, Christians who were being persecuted chose to make the sacrifice in order to remain loyal to God. The first point that most people tend to rely on when forming a decision is that of reason. When choosing what to believe or how to respond in a situation, reason allows us to judge our surroundings in a rational manner. For instance, many newly converted Christians of the East have no knowledge of God to begin with; therefore, they are not purely believing in God based on faith alone. Many of them have felt an intense urge to follow Christ, or are instinctively drawn to Him by the power of His

It is due to the intense persecution Christians face in North Korea that has led to the organizing of literal underground churches. Chan Chung Cathedral in Pyongyang, the country’s only Catholic Church, has an attendance of about 100 people for its weekly Sunday Mass. Catholic priests are allowed to conduct Mass and give Communion, but hearing confessions are prohibited. The only other Christian churches in North Korea are three Protestant churches and one Russian Orthodox church, which are all located in Pyongyang. For many North Koreans, being Christian is kept secret even from family members for fear of being arrested or sent to labor camps. Usually, Christian parents will not introduce their children to the religion for the fear they may accidentally speak of it. Not only are foreigner missionaries and evangelical groups prohibited from operating in the country, but no North Korean citizen is allowed to contact or maintain ties with these religious groups. Disobeying the aforementioned laws can result in harsh penalties including execution. In 2014, the group Aid to the Church in Need published a report that estimated 50,000 Christians may currently be in North Korean penal camps.9 Forbes magazine quoted their report which stated, “‘Since 1953, at least 200,000 Christians have gone

The impact North Korea poses on the global community outweighs its geographical size. Having only a landmass about the size of Mississippi, North Korea houses a population of 23 million people. This small communist county is one of the most isolated and controlled places in the world. Formed after World War II and having only two leaders during its time of existence, this country has displayed defiant acts against the global community throughout its history. Currently under heavy sanctions by the U.N., North Korea illustrates a blatant disregard to international law through trade of prohibited goods. Its obsession with nuclear weapons in recent years, its continuous disregard to human life and its affiliation to terrorism creates fear

Koreans in North Korea form one group of unreached people. People Groups website defines a unreached people group as one where “there is no indigenous community of believing Christians able to engage this people group with church planting.” The inability of church planting amongst this people group and the persecution of Christians in this country creates a major challenge to the spreading of Christianity.

However, even these people were unsettling. Most of the Asians I met went to churches, but I did not. And as soon as they realized that, they tried to “convert me” so that I will dedicate my life to God. I knew that religion was a great part of the Asian life, but it was the first time I had a firsthand experience of religiously dedicated people.

The thesis of Kirby's excellent introduction is that the Cold War was one of history's great religious wars, 'a global conflict between the god-fearing and the godless'. (p. 1) It was a war in which 'Christianity was appropriated by Western propagandists and policy-makers for their anti-communist arsenal' (p. 2), nowhere more so than in the USA. But in addition, as this volume demonstrates, Christianity was not simply a tool of psychological warfare. Church leaders were not merely pawns in a political game; they were active participants. Their flocks were not only recipients of propaganda; for millions religious faith was central to their lives. This fact is most vividly demonstrated in the several chapters that deal with the Catholic Church

The country that my group and I our doing is North Korea, in Asia. In my part I am going to cover religion. In North Korea, there is a religion called Juche. This is the only region that is accepted. Juche also known as "Kimilsungism" after Kim llsung, is a religious, political, social and economic ideology of North Korea (The Juche Idea). Juche is a nonmaterial element. The idea was first introduced by Kim llsung in 1955 to distance North Korea from the Soviet Union, which at the time was undoing many of the Stalinist policies that Kim llsung liked. Overtime, Juche evolved borrowing from Marxism, Leninism, Stalinism, Maoism, and Confucianism. Whatever Kimllsung and Kim Jongil wanted, as well as their won ideas, and in 1972 replaced Marxism-Leninism

My senior thesis will explore the historical and social scientific relationship between Capitalism and Christianity in regard to the changing religious population in South Korea. I will use Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism as a starting place in the field, critique it, and explore more recent research as well. I will apply Weber’s methodology onto South Korea, paying particular attention to the first modern universities in South Korea, most founded by Protestants, which plays an important role in Korean culture today as your “rank” of university directly correlates with your future wealth, success and happiness. Traditionally, Protestants have had much more success in Korea as they were not persecuted harshly like