News

North Korean defector says cousin’s entire family executed for sharing Gospel

July 25, 2019

The U.S. State Department has included North Korea on its list of countries violating religious freedom every year since 2001. Christians in North Korea are called upon to have the faith and perseverance of the saints and martyrs. There is at least one Orthodox parish in North Korea, the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Pyongyang, but its present situation is unclear. Please continue to beseech Almighty God for peace and security for the Orthodox Christians and all Christians of North Korea.

“North Korean defector says cousin’s entire family executed for sharing Gospel,” by Samuel Smith, Christian Post, July 24, 2019:

WASHINGTON — A North Korean defector detailed what it’s like to live as a Christian in North Korea, telling President Donald Trump and the State Department’s religious freedom ministerial about the execution of his cousin’s family for sharing the Gospel.

Illyong Ju was among nearly 30 survivors of religious persecution who met with the president at the White House last Wednesday. Hours beforehand he shared his story and those of other North Korean defectors with media gathered at the Harry S. Truman building.

Ju was born in North Korea in 1996 and was the youngest of three children. He said that throughout his childhood, his parents listened to foreign radio broadcasts for over 10 years, an illegal act in the authoritarian country led by the controlling Kim regime.

According to the State Department, listening to the radio inspired the family to seek a new-found faith. Later, Ju’s parents decided it would be best to defect from North Korea so they could be free to live out their beliefs….