"North Korea is continuing its crackdown on underground churches, with dissident media reporting that the authorities are "patting themselves on the back for bringing religion under control." The Seoul-based DailyNK news site reported on November 18 that its sources within North Korea say the regime is confident that it has "practically exterminated" underground churches and worship groups. However, defectors and human rights activists told DW they are confident that small groups and individuals who remain secretly committed to their faith still exist in the North."
"They have been targeted by the regime and many people have been detained, but we know there are still strong Christians who are worshipping in small groups or as individuals," said Song Young-Chae, a South Korean academic and activist with the Worldwide Coalition to Stop Genocide in North Korea. "There are defectors who have arrived in South Korea this year and they say it is still happening and other defectors who still have contacts there say the same thing," Song told DW."
North Korean authorities have intensified a crackdown on underground Christian churches, with dissident sources saying the regime claims to have "practically exterminated" illicit worship groups. Defectors and human rights activists report that small clandestine congregations and individual believers continue to practice their faith despite arrests and repression. Many believers have been detained and targeted for clandestine worship. North Korea's constitution nominally guarantees freedom of religious belief, but the regime tightly controls religious activity and promotes veneration of the Kim family from childhood. Christians are stigmatized as Western-influenced, and possession of Bibles or prayer can lead to severe persecution.
Read at www.dw.com
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