The American Spectator

At Large

The North Korean Prison State

By Doug Bandow on 8.20.08 @ 12:07AM

(Page 2 of 2)

Although the famine apparently has undercut belief in the leadership's infallibility, the "highly elaborate and structured belief system based on the semi-deification of Kim Il Sung and his family" remains. The refugees, notes the Commission, "provided consistent testimony to the way this cult of personality dominates their daily lives and the penalties associated with questioning or challenging its mandatory rites and requirements." The stories people tell are bizarrely repulsive.

Despite the horrors visited upon religious believers, faith does survive. For instance, the Commission reports "what seems to be a network of quasi-functioning Buddhist temples preserved as 'cultural heritage sites,' as well as rise in "Shamanistic divination." Moreover, "in the border regions with China there is evidence of clandestine Protestant activity that is actively combated and repressed by the regime, which views the existence of such activity as an ideological and security threat." Unfortunately, it is hard to assess the size of the underground church. Nevertheless, the regime is concerned enough to set up religious sting operations, even creating fake congregations "to attract repatriated refugees who had converted in China and also to infiltrate religious groups in China."

The tragedy of North Korea's brutality is compounded by China's ruthless repatriation of refugees. Whether Beijing believes that most of the refugees are economic migrants, fears that an unconstrained refugee flow will destabilize its ally and neighbor, disdains aid for anyone seeking freedom of religion and conscience, or all three is hard to judge. But the policy is barbarous in any case. Just as China has disappointed those disposed to think well of it by failing to improve respect for human rights at home, Beijing's continued support for the worst North Korean practices creates another black mark against that regime.

WHILE CHRISTIANITY is the principal target of North Korean religious repression, it also offers North Koreans the greatest hope for the future. For Christianity challenges the basis of the DPRK tyranny.

One member of the secret police observed that the authorities treat more leniently refugees who flee to China simply in search of jobs and food, even if they seek aid from churches, than those "who confess to religious belief, or are suspected of spreading Christianity." The Commission cites another former security agent explaining that "Christianity was suppressed more than Buddhism because it is against the One and Only Ideology. Kim Il Sung is god; a real God [cannot] replace him." In short, Christianity offers the most obvious alternative to KimIlSungism, the foundation of whatever legitimacy the regime retains. Thus, as Christianity spreads, even under severe repression, North Korea's communist system is likely to face ever greater challenges.

There is no magic solution to the tragedy of North Korea. But the regime's ferocious battle against religious belief suggests that the authorities are not nearly as certain of their survival as they proclaim. It is imperative that people of good will around the world never forget the suffering people of North Korea.

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Education, Television, Religion, North Korea, Socialism