In the Western world, North Korea is known as a mysterious, illusive, and dangerous place. They are powerful and intimidating, with the rest of the world teetering between appeasement and sanctions. They have the fourth largest standing army on the planet, with more than 1.1 million soldiers. They also have the largest contingent of special forces in the world. Yet for a country so mighty in power, they seem to fear one thing above all others...Christians. It is not enough to execute or send to a concentration camp anyone found guilty of being a Christian. No, everyone in the family is sent; children, grandparents, all three generations. I don't think any country on earth has ever done more to eradicate Christianity than North Korea. Which makes the story of the Bae family that much more miraculous. "These Are the Generations" is the story of the 'Bae' family and how they lived out their Christian faith in the darkest part of the world under impossible circumstances for three generations. At one time it was believed that there were no Christians in North Korea outside of the concentration camps, but the Bae family have proven otherwise. They are part of the remnant that God preserved by His grace who have not bowed before the idols of this world. May we draw strength from their example and learn to shine the light of our faith, where ever we are, no matter how dark it may be.
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North Korea
Basic Info: North Korea is a little smaller than North Carolina, and about 70% of the country is mountainous. It is divided from South Korea by the Demilitarized Zone since the end of the Korean War, and is considered one of the most impenetrable barriers in the world. Since the Korean War never officially ended, any North Korean defectors who make it to South Korea are immediately recognized as citizens. As a closed nation, 99.8% of the population is Korean. Also, the government prides itself on racial and ethnic purity. Even Korean immigrants from places like China (people who left Korea under Japanese occupation) are considered 'bad people' and are excluded from public care. The government does not allot them much land or work, and closely monitors their movements. People with 'mixed' blood are called 'dirty'. People are not allowed to travel freely about the country. Anyone who wants to travel must have a travel document, like an internal passport. It can take months to get and cost $100 or more a person. There are guard posts and check points stationed throughout the nation. In order to host anyone from a different town or village, both parties must submit a visitation request and get approval ahead of time. There are 70 bronze statues of Kim Il-Sung with a worth totaling over $1 billion, and tens of thousands of other monuments, towers, and figures spread throughout the country. Throughout the years, different nations have issued economics sanctions against North Korea due to their military aggressiveness. However, these sanctions have little to no impact because about 80% of their economy is underground. They make a billion dollars a year from money laundering and and trafficking in illegal drugs. Weapon sales are not even included in that figure and North Korea is the world's number one seller of missiles. However, much of that money is kept in the inner circle of the Kim family and their close supporters and is not seen by the rest of the population. Also that money is spent on military expenditures and trying to become a nuclear power. The country is heavily dependent on economic aide, especially since food shortages are common. The mountainous region is almost impossible to farm, but it is rich in minerals. They are dug up and sold to Russia or China as raw ore because there are not the necessary facilities to refine it within the country.
Government/Ideology: The entire system is set up around the Kim family and the Juche ideology. Juche means 'self-reliance'. Every week 100% of the North Korean population has to gather together in special building for worshipful services called self-criticism meetings. At these meetings, Koreans sing from a hymnal containing 600 songs of praise glorifying Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. In 1998, North Korea attempted to launch a satellite into orbit to broadcast all Juche hymns all the time, but it fell back to earth. The trinity is present in the Kim family with Kim Il Sung, his wife, and his son Kim Jong Il. Kim Il Sung is the original Kim, and he died in 1994, but North Koreans continue to call him the country's president and regard him as immortal, the god of North Korea. Children even pray to him and believe that he answers them. People in North Korea pray by looking up reverently at the picture of the Kim dynasty leaders that have to be hung on the best wall of every home. (Christians in North Korea cannot bow their heads or close their eyes to pray, or else they will end up in jail or a concentration camp.) As for Kim Jong Il, they say a star appeared overhead when he was born into a humble log cabin in the snowy midwinter. Even after the death of Jong Il, he is still greatly venerated. His son Kim Jong Un is in power now.
History/Religion: Christianity was introduced into North Korea earlier than in South Korea. Just over a 100 years ago, Pyongyang was the site of a revival so large it was known as the "Jerusalem of the East". The revival occurred in January 1907 during a prayer meeting at the largest church in Korea, the First Church of Pyongyang. The missionary William Blair called it the "Korean Pentecost. By 1941, about 300,000 North Koreans identified themselves as Christians. When the Japanese invaded Korea during WWII, many Christians, under the advice of their pastors, did bow at the Japanese Shinto shrines. Not every church did however, and those who resisted were persecuted. After the war, when Korea was divided in half, Christians in the northern province resisted Communism under the Soviet Union. The government first confiscated Christians' finances by the 1946 Land Reform Act. Then in 1949, Kim Il Sung, arrested everyone who attended religious activities. Churches were either demolished or repurposed as Kim Il Sung research centers. Christians who did not flee South were purged as counterrevolutionaries, publicly executed, or imprisoned in labor and concentration camps. In 1959, the government released anti-Christian literature saying Christians were in league with the hated Americans who were at fault for the Chosun War and all the massacres and plunder that had occurred. The Christian church went underground, but not like the underground church in China. The church was not formally organized or networked. There was no pastoral training or oversight. The majority worshiped in secret with only family members present. Parents could not even share their faith with their children, or else the children would be tricked into revealing their Christian identity to the public school teachers. In the early 1980's, the government opened it's first fake church to deceive foreigners into thinking that Christians could still practice their faith. A small group of state trained actors sang hymns, and staged Christmas and Easter celebrations. In the 1990's, ethnic Koreans living in China began going into North Korea to share the Gospel. Then during the March of Tribulation (the great famine) hundreds of thousands of North Koreans escaped to China and Russia where they were told to look for a building with a cross on it. There, Christian missionaries led them to faith in Christ. These Christians returning to North Korea were arrested under the charge of espionage and were either publicly executed or sent to concentration camps. Today, Kim Jong Un is sending out around 40,000 workers to over 40 different countries to bring in remittances. The chances of these workers hearing the Gospel has greatly increased, but they still cannot openly admit their faith. There are about 23,000 North Korean refugees in South Korea. Reliable estimates show that there are around 100,000 underground Christians inside North Korea, but some suggest up to 400,000. There are an estimated 30,000 Christians in concentration camps. North Korea has been listed as the number one persecutor of Christians on the Open Doors Watch List since 2002.
Missions: 1) Radio- Many South Korean Christian broadcasts reach far into North Korea, but most radios are pre-tuned to government stations. Smuggled radios are making their way into the country. Also, the language is not identical. There is about a 40% divergence between North and South Korean dialects. 2) Bibles, the Gospels, and tracts- These are smuggled into the country in various ways as well as floated in by balloons from South Korea. Smugglers are likely to be executed if caught. A North Korean dialect of the Bible is being worked on. 3) Korean Christians from China- Korea is open to Chinese businessmen. Their easy access to the country can be very strategic.
Information compiled from "These Are the Generations" by VOM and Operation World "Korea, North".
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