(Abigail Ferrara. The Whasinthon Stand).
“Life for Christians in North Korea [is] a constant cauldron of pressure; capture or death is only a mistake away.” As cited by the 2022 State Department report, this is the daily reality for Christians in North Korea.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) was the latest to sound that alarm, documenting the testimonies of several North Korean defectors on the horrific experiences of Christians and other religious adherents in prison. One defector testified of a Christian prisoner who would pray daily and was then punished with extreme beatings with clubs or boots: “One time they beat [the Christian prisoner] to the brink of death, leaving the person bleeding on the ground. But this person got up and prayed just the same the next morning.” After being beaten, the man was cursed at by Ministry of State Security officials and told “he should just drop dead.” This torture lasted for 15 years in the political prisoner camp.