North Korea, East Asia

Population: 23,301,725

Christians: 1-2%

Dominant Religion: Idolatry of Kim II Sung

(autonomous religious activities now almost

Nonexistent, government-sponsored religious

groups exist to provide illusion of religious

freedom)

Persecution Ranking: 1st

Political Leader: Kim Jong-il

Religious Freedom in Constitution: Yes

North Korea is currently the most serious violator of human rights in the world. Kim Jong-Il, continuing the policies of his father Kim Il-Sung, suppresses any form of dissent against the government. North Koreans are effectively forced to worship Kim Il-Sung as a god. Dissenters face imprisonment in one of many political prison camps where forced labor, inhumane living conditions, and torture are common. Christians have been particularly targeted by the authorities as subversive and face imprisonment and possible execution. From a time when North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, was called the Jerusalem of the East, North Koreans have now come to live under state-enforced idolatry of the leaders in which violent punishments, including torture, execution, and brutal imprisonment, are forced upon Christians.

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