For years, Deacon Jang Moon Seok ministered to North Koreans living in Changbai, China until he was kidnapped by North Korean agents in November 2014. The agents snuck across the border, abducted the deacon, and formally arrested him once he was on North Korean soil. Deacon Jang was sentenced to fifteen years of imprisonment. He was tortured for information about Han Chung-Ryeol, a high-profile pastor also working in Changbai whom North Korean agents assassinated in 2016.
Deacon Jang’s case is just one example of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un’s attempts to suffocate religious freedom. The Kim dynasty’s cult of personality leaves no room for any independent religion or belief. After decades of persecution, the percentage of the North Korean population affiliating with a religion—including Christianity, Buddhism, and Cheondoism—plummeted from approximately 24 percent in 1950 to a mere 0.16 percent in 2002.
Read Full Article »