A few weeks ago I submitted an Informer piece about martyrs in the Middle Ages. This week I want to focus on present day martyrs and have chosen the story of Ri Hyon Ok who was executed last year in North Korea.
Ri Hyon Ok, a 33-year-old Christian woman in North Korea, was executed for distributing copies of the Bible, an activity which is banned in the country. South Korean human rights activists revealed this event as a sign of a renewed crackdown on religion in North Korea, despite the fact that, the capital, Pyongyang, was once considered the "Jerusalem of the East" because of the prevalence of Christianity.
In addition to Bible distribution, Ri was accused of being a spy for South Korea and of organising dissidents in North Korea. According to a report from the Investigative Commission on Crime Against Humanity, Ri's husband, three children, and parents were sent to a political prison on 17 June 2009, a day after she was executed in Ryongchong.
It is believed that another Christian, Seo Kum Ok, was also arrested and tortured near the city, under accusations of spying on a nuclear site for South Korea and the United States.
While freedom of religious observance is allegedly allowed in North Korea, which has authorized four state churches (Catholic, Russian Orthodox, and two Protestant churches), religion is strictly monitored and restricted in favor of the nation-wide cult of the personality devoted to Kim Jong.
A May report from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom stated that there is no genuine freedom of religion in North Korea. "What religious practice or venues exist ... (are) tightly controlled and used to advance the government's political or diplomatic agenda," the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said in the May report. "Other public and private religious activity is prohibited and anyone discovered engaging in clandestine religious practice faces official discrimination, arrest, imprisonment, and possibly execution."
Over 30,000 North Koreans are believed to be closet Christians, even as the government has begun infiltrating underground churches and setting traps for converts.
Part of an article posted on the Facebook group dedicated to Ri’s memory makes the following profound statement. My heart was broken about 5 different times reading this story. Broken for the terrible government in N. Korea that will pay for their actions. Broken for how lucky I am to be an American with religious freedom. Broken for the 30,000 N. Koreans who continue to follow Christ at the risk of their life in a place where the government will literally set up fake prayer meetings or infiltrate underground churches for the purpose of incriminating Christians. Broken, knowing the worst thing I face for sharing my faith is a stern look or getting laughed at, when others face this harsh reality.
Let’s keep North Korean government and the Christians living in that country in our prayers this week.
