2. POLITICS/GOVERNMENT
I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.
Isaiah 42:1
Kim Jung Un, is the current “appointed” leader.”
The Korean Workers Party is the dominant political party.
All information is controlled by government .
One-third of the nation’s resources are spent on the military.
Kim Jong Il created a crisis mentality in which the United States, Japan and
South Korea are demonized as enemies.
4. PEOPLE
I have summoned you by name; you are mine. - Isaiah 43:1
Approximately 24 million people live in North Korea.
Freedom of movement, assembly, and association are strictly controlled.
Most people live a life of repression and fear.
Starvation is used as a means of controlling groups of people.
In most rural areas there is little medicine, running water, heating or food.
In contrast, Party members and ruling elite live in lavish luxury.
6. FAMINE
In all their distress He too was distressed, and the angel of His
presence saved them. Isaiah 63:9
North Korea has had a severe food shortage since the mid 1990’s.
One fourth of the population is in need of food aid.
Many eat grass, roots, rats, insects…anything remotely edible to survive.
Prisoners, given even less food, slowly starve to death while forced to
perform hard labor.
The government has cut daily rations from 700 grams of cereal to 200.
(The government’s minimum requirement is 573 grams.)
8. CHILDREN
They are the offspring whom the Lord has blessed!
Isaiah 61:9
On average a South Korean 7-year-old boy is 4’1” tall and weighs 57 lbs
…in the North he is about 8 inches shorter and 22 lbs lighter.
If arrested, children are sent with parents to prison camps where they are
forced into hard labor.
Called “kotjebis,” a derogatory North Korean word for “wandering swallows,”
tens of thousands orphaned children wander the streets.
10. PRISONERS/REFUGEES
I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to
the nations… And they will declare My glory. - Isaiah 66:19
North Korea is one huge prison.
A person can be imprisoned for any state-defined crime.
There are 12 prisons or gulags and 30 labor camps (est.) in North Korea.
500,000 – The number of people believed to have perished in camps.
Thousands have fled North Korea in search of a better life.
If caught they are repatriated and either killed …or sent to a camp.
12. RELIGION /IDOL WORSHIP
And they will declare My glory among the nations. Isaiah 66:19
Religious freedom is constitutionally guaranteed
… in reality all religious activity is prohibited.
Pyongyang has four “show” churches .
The Bible is banned. Most have never heard the Word of God, or heard about
Jesus Christ.
Christians are regarded as “crazy people.”
All citizens are indoctrinated in Juche ideology.
Juche twists the Holy Trinity - Kim Il-Sung is god, his son Kim Jong-Il is the
Christ figure and the ideology of Juche replaces the Holy Spirit.
13. Pray for the People
of North Korea to Know Christ
14. CHRISTIANS
“This is My covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit which
is upon you…from now and forever.” - Isaiah 59:21
Police aggressively search for Christians to arrest.
Betrayal by fellow citizens, or even their own children, is significant likelihood.
Four types of Christians in North Korea:
Party members and their children who attend state sponsored
churches.
Pre-WWII Christians who maintained their faith by practicing in
secret.
New converts
Prisoners
.
16. CELEBRATE THE CHURCH
In spite of persecution and oppression the
Church in North Korea is growing!
Heavenly Father, we give
You all the praise and glory!
May Your Church continue
to grow.