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FIRST ON FOX: A move aimed at lowering tensions between South and North Korea is threatening, rather than improving, life for the estimated 400,000 Christians who live in the North. The policy has been slammed as “a catastrophic strategic mistake.”
South Korea’s new President, Lee Jae-myung, ordered a reported 80% of radio broadcasts from the South, beamed into the North, to stop transmitting in May. The President also declared that loudspeakers that had been broadcasting anti-communist propaganda on the border between the two countries should be taken down.
Myung reportedly told his Cabinet in Seoul, “I hope such reciprocal measures will gradually lead to dialogue and communication” between the two Koreas, the Korea Times reported Tuesday, adding that the South Korean President wants South and North Korea to “shift from a relationship that causes harm to each other to one that is mutually beneficial.”
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A South Korean Christian radio station recording material for broadcast in 2021.
In a statement reported by news website korea.net on August 5, South Korea’s defense ministry added that the new measures were “practical measures to help ease inter-Korean tensions, within a range that does not affect the military’s readiness posture.”
But the shutdown of radio stations is having a drastic effect on North Korea’s Christians. The Kim Jong-un regime has ruled that it is a crime to worship Christianity. Even being found with a Bible can lead to execution, normally with a bullet, sometimes reportedly after torture.
There’s no general access to the internet for ordinary citizens. The only practical way Christians can experience the Gospel and Christian teaching or thoughts is to secretly listen to a radio. But now the Stimson Center’s 38 North, a publication analyzing data on North Korea, says broadcasts into the country from the South, including broadcasts previously backed by the U.S. Agency for Global Media, have been cut back by almost 80% since May, and they advise that level could fall even further over the coming months.
Kim Jong Un depicted riding a horse atop Mount Paektu, a sacred site in North Korea. (KCNA)
It’s also reported that it is more difficult to hear the Christian message now. Because there are fewer broadcasts still going into the North, authorities are said to be having greater success in electronically jamming them.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson expressed concern, telling Fox News Digital, “Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Rubio, the State Department Office of International Religious Freedom is actively looking into new ways to advance freedom of religion around the world, including in North Korea, and for North Korea’s severely persecuted Christian community. President Trump is a champion for religious freedom globally, including defending people’s ability to read the Bible and freely access religious texts.”
It is impossible to over-estimate the importance of these broadcasts to Christians in North Korea, Timothy Cho, who defected from the country when he was 17, told Fox News Digital from London. Cho serves on the Secretariat of the British government’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea, saying “we are sharing the Gospel with our brothers and sisters on the ground in North Korea. This significance we cannot compare with any amount of values, because it is hope. It is hope, and it is light and it is the message they can rely on during the darkest time inside North Korea.”
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President Trump is to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un for a summit sometime next month. (Reuters)
In North Korea, Cho claimed, the ruling Kim family dynasty is portrayed collectively as gods, not only the so-called ‘Supreme Leaders,” but supreme beings. He explained that’s why Christianity is so feared by the government. He added that “the most dangerous threat to North Korean authority is the claim of there being a true God who is not connected to the Kim dynasty.”
“Underground Christianity provides a space for the free exchange of ideas. Christianity is a defining feature of the DNA of the Korean people,” Greg Scarlatiou, President and CEO of the Washington-based Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, told Fox News Digital. “The Kim family regime wants none of that, having tried so hard to obliterate the true identity of the Korean people.”
“The shutting down of radio stations beaming information into North Korea is a catastrophic strategic mistake. True change can’t come from the Kim family. It can only come from the people of North Korea, especially Christians. And the only thing the outside world can do to help them is empowerment through information.”
North Korea is at the top of Open Doors’ World Watch List for persecution of Christians again this year. Open Doors is a global organization that supports and speaks up for Christians persecuted for their faith. The report noted, “Police and intelligence agents search homes without warning. If they find Christian materials, it is considered a crime against the nation, and the whole family can be banished, imprisoned or executed. Those who use an unregistered smartphone or radio to access unapproved media are punished.”
The report continued, “Christians only dare to listen to radio programs at night, hidden under blankets. Each act of worship, even though conducted by oneself, is perceived as an “act of extreme disloyalty.” Citizens are trained to report anyone who might be an enemy of the regime, including family members.
North Korea’s flag flies over its embassy in Beijing. (Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images)
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“The national media broadcast anti-Christian content, where Christians are portrayed as evil betrayers of the nation, and missionary activities are referred to as acts of terrorism,” the Open Doors report noted.
On Thursday, Kim Yo-jong, the North Korean leader’s sister, and Deputy Department Director of the Publicity and Information Department of the ruling Workers Party in Pyongyang, made it clear that North Korea will not lessen controls. She released a statement, monitored by a source in Seoul, reportedly saying, “We don’t care whether South Korea dismantles the loudspeakers or stops the broadcasts. We have no intention of improving relations with America’s loyal lackeys.”