Former North Korean security agents interviewed for the report said police had stepped up efforts to halt religious activity at the border. The North Korean government even provided basic theological training for border security guards, enabling them to identify and entrap North Korean converts.

“New believers” who have come to faith through contact with Christians in China are considered a greater threat than “old believers” who came to faith as a result of family tradition.

The Church – Alive and Well?

The report offers a rare perspective on the health of the North Korean church. Interviewees testified to secret church meetings and missionary activity; officials perceived both as threats to North Korean security.

The North Korean government has claimed there are a total of 512 house churches throughout the country, but one former police agent quoted in the report said while there were certainly “underground believers” in North Korea, it was far too dangerous for “underground churches” – gatherings of more than a handful of believers – to operate.

Refugees interviewed who had been to Pyongyang knew about the few official religious venues in the capital but said they were “showplaces” for foreigners, and not “real churches like those in China and South Korea.” These same refugees knew of religious rights provisions in North Korean law but believed these were included for “show” and did not reflect reality.

“We … learned in college about [legal] statutes regarding freedom of religion,” one refugee stated, “but the professors told us that it was only to show outsiders and that we should not believe in any religions.”

The constitution of North Korea “mentions freedom of belief or freedom of religion a lot,” another stated. “It’s quite different in reality. If you say the word ‘religion’ you could face consequences.”

Another refugee said the government did not allow independent religious organizations for fear that the regime would be endangered, because “religion erodes society.”

Cross-border contact with China has definitely contributed to the growth of the North Korean church in recent years. While it is impossible to measure this growth, some refugees interviewed for the report had attended prayer meetings, while former border guards had been instructed to set up false underground churches to attract Christian converts repatriated from China. 

Refugees confirmed both religious activity and religious repression, consistently reporting that practitioners can be arrested, sent to political prison camps or executed.

“In 2003, an underground church called ‘Yuseon’ was uncovered,” one said. “In around 1999 or 2000, one lady went to China to earn some money and returned to North Korea carrying two Bibles with her. She was arrested and sent to the National Security Agency. Then, her whole family disappeared.”