NORTH KOREA COUNTRY PROFILE
North Korea has the world’s worst religious freedom record, according to human rights observers. 151 Clandestine reports about a country cut off from the world suggest that the regime has tightened resistance to unwanted religious influence. Article 68 of the constitution nominally grants freedom of religion. 152 However, repression of religion is integral to the state amid an intensification of a cult of personality centering on former leaders Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il, whom the regime portrays as “extraordinary beings." 153 The regime associates Christianity with the West and opposes it vigorously. The government views Protestant Christians as “collaborators of imperialistic forces and enemies of the nation and revolution." 154 Christians account for many 155 of the country’s political prisoners, who may number 190,000 in total. 156 This is an increase on the period 2022-24, as the regime implemented the "Reactionary Thought and Culture Rejection Law," aimed at blocking foreign ideological influence. 157 Christians practice their faith in extreme secrecy, with people reportedly hiding their beliefs from their spouses. Since the Youth Education Guarantee Act was introduced in 2021, counterintelligence and surveillance have expanded amid increased crackdowns on religious activity. 158 Owning a Bible, having contact with Christian missionaries, and attending religious services can result in torture or forced labor. Desperate to conceal their Bibles, people reportedly wrap the covers with pictures of the Kim dynasty. 159 Christianity is almost entirely invisible in a country where before the Korean War, (1950-53) there were up to 3,000 churches. 160 In late 2025, the regime was reported to have “practically exterminated underground churches,” and the authorities were “patting themselves on the back for bringing religion under control." 161
SELECTED INCIDENTS
JANUARY 2025 A secret Christian in North Korea had his testimony published after he defected to South Korea. “Brother Chun” was born and grew up in North Korea. He said his mother only told him about the Bible “when he was old enough to grasp the weight of that information." He tried to escape to South Korea, where his father was born, but was detained in a neighboring country. Released on parole, he was transferred to a UN camp and from there entered South Korea. 162 JUNE 2025 Remembering the Disappeared: A Testimony Report on North Korea’s Political Prisoners was published. The report, about 70 Christians who disappeared, includes the case of Kim Sung-Sik, arrested for involvement in a secret Christian community in Hoeryong City. Kim’s
family has had no contact with him since 2008, when he apparently disappeared from prison. 163
NOVEMBER 2025 Deacon Jang Moon Seok (also known as Zhang Wen Shi) was reported to be suffering from extreme physical and mental exhaustion following his release after 11 years in prison in North Korea. He had been found guilty of “defaming the regime, attempt[ing] to incite subversion of state power, providing aid and [the] gospel to North Koreans.” For many years, he was on the North Korean/Chinese border helping refugees. One day, he was lured into North Korea under a false pretext and was then arrested by the authorities. 164
30 | Persecuted and Forgotten?
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