‘No let up’ of persecution in North Korea

‘No let up’ of persecution in North Korea

PYONGYANG, North Korea — The persecution of Christians in North Korea continues at horrifying levels, according to Open Doors, an organization focused on helping the global persecuted Church.

Open Doors CEO David Curry told The Christian Post that precise statistics on the number of Christian prisoners and number of people executed for their faith is hard to get out of North Korea, but estimates that more than 70,000 Christians were imprisoned in 2015 alone.

“You have executions — we don’t know how many, but we know of enough. There has been no let up in persecution in North Korea,” Curry said.

Another human rights advocacy organization, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, noted that “documented incidents against Christians include being hung on a cross over a fire, crushed under a steamroller, herded off bridges and trampled underfoot.”

Hae Woo, a North Korean woman who started a secret church in a prison camp, said that in North Korea people are taught that Christians kill people and drink their blood, according to the Post.

“Every form of religion, and especially Christianity, was like opium: addictive and destructive,” Hae Woo said, noting that it was God who helped her make it out of the prison camp alive. She eventually escaped to South Korea, but thousands of her North Korean Christian brothers and sisters still face intense persecution in their country. (TAB)