ICC Note: Fear and paranoia are integral pieces of a tragic reality without freedom in North Korea. No matter how much we hear about it, we must not deafen our ears by thinking of Christians in North Korea as mere statistics from another world unrelated to ours. They are people crafted by the hands of God, just as ourselves, who have known deeper pain and torture than most of us will likely ever have to deal with. God can and will be brought glory amidst the persecution of His people in North Korea, but we cannot simply expect this to happen and do nothing about it – we must continue to strengthen the church there with our prayers and our support. Even greater numbers of people would come to know Christ in North Korea if they could simply have a Bible from which to read about Him.

8/12/2016 North Korea (Korea Times) – The exercise of religious freedom continued to be “non-existent” in North Korea last year as the regime continued to deal harshly with those involved in any religious practices, the U.S. State Department said in an annual report Wednesday.

The 2015 International Religious Freedom Report reconfirmed human rights abuses the North has long been accused of, including its denial of the right to “freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, as well as of the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, and association.”