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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Christians in N. Korea Subject to Biological Experiments: State Dept |
| 2004-09-16 |
| Christians in North Korea were subjected to biological warfare experiments, according to a U.S. government report Wednesday. The States Department's annual report on international religious freedom quoted North Korean defectors as claiming that Christians were imprisoned and tortured for reading the Bible and talking about god, and that some Christians were subjected to biological warfare experiments. |
| Posted by:TS(vice girl) |
| #9 Things may have changed, but the largest religious denomination in South Korea used to be "none". However, I have known many Korean Christians and, for the most part, have been very impressed with them as people. I tend believe this story because there is no depravity that is beneath Kim Jong Il and the thugs that run North Korea. Only Madeline Albright could love perverts like these. |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-09-16 10:53:25 PM |
| #8 Soon Ok Lee also discovered after leaving North Korea, when she heard some hymns sung in South Korea, that her mother had sung hymns to her as a small child. Her mother was probably a Christian, but never mentioned it to Soon Ok Lee because of the severe repression. I should also say that I didn't mean to imply that the population of Christians in North Korea is large. I believe it is still small, but larger than it used to be. Before the madness, it was very large, but large-scale extermination will tend to cut down on numbers. |
| Posted by: KathyL 2004-09-16 10:46:05 PM |
| #7 Actually, Cyber Sarge, surprisingly enough there is a network of Christians within North Korea that is growing, according to reports from Open Doors and Voice of the Martyrs. I'm not sure that any of the reports are online; I think they tend to keep that type of report confined to their hardcopy newsletters and emails, because it makes it less likely to be picked up by the wrong people (and because neither one has a great website). Obviously they can't say a whole lot about it beyond extreme generalities, but I do know that they have operatives on the "inside". Some of the refugees who flee to China return to North Korea to evangelize the people there, at great risk to themselves of course. And Voice of the Martyrs sends balloons over the border from South Korea that have scripture printed on them. North Korean Christians wait for them in the woods and pick them up. In Soon Ok Lee's memoir of her time in a North Korean prison camp, during which she was NOT a Christian, she notes the presence of Christians in the camp, and it was their behavior that started her down the path to her eventual conversion after she escaped from North Korea. |
| Posted by: KathyL 2004-09-16 10:42:55 PM |
| #6 Everything and anything is possible in dear leader's paradise. It will take quite a while to return the North Koreans to the Human Race. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-09-16 9:58:39 PM |
| #5 You really think so, Sarge? I understand that almost all South Koreans are baptized and believing Christians, and this isn't something new to the Korean peninsula. The Christian faith is especially helpful for individuals and small groups trying to survive with their spirit intact within a larger, hostile environment. And layer on top of that the traditional Asian respect for family elders, which would make it easy to pass on the faith, and relatively easy to keep as a quiet family tradition. Or maybe I'm just a bit naive. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2004-09-16 9:54:36 PM |
| #4 While I am sure that IF there were any active Christians in North Korea they would suffer, I really doubt there are any around today. There is NO contact with Christian organization with the exception of the few groups that were allowed to operate relief agencies. These groups were not allowed unrestricted contact with the population and I doubt that they could find many converts among them. These people are totally indoctrinated from the time of birth to worship only one god and the is Kim Il Sung. I have doubts that any Nork would embrace Christianity from a foreigner, especially someone who is non-Korean. Don’t get me wrong, North Korea is a HORRIBLE they can and do torture, maim, or kill anyone at the whim of Kim Jung Il. However, I believe this story is made up by refugees (defectors) that want to escape that socialist paradise. They tell the U.S. what they want to hear so they can resettle in the south or maybe in the U.S. It’s been done before. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2004-09-16 10:33:20 AM |
| #3 Congrats, Susan. You got through a Rantburg post without blaming the US or Bush. ;o) |
| Posted by: badanov 2004-09-16 8:20:08 AM |
| #2 Yeah exactly, don't get me started on the "dear leader" ! I am wondering just how many nth Korean c/camp inmates were utilised and flogged, to speed up the clean up of the latest (innocent) mushroom cloud. Anyone else smell a rat ? |
| Posted by: Susan 2004-09-16 7:40:15 AM |
| #1 The North Korean defectors have failed to do their research on how to spring the US into action. They should have reported Moslems in trouble if they wanted us to go to bat for humanitarian reasons. Look at our recent track record. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-09-16 2:11:29 AM |