The DPRK is hands-down the most mystified socialist state in the world. The government is considered irrational and crazy, Kim Jong Un is called a brutal dictator, and its people are said to be brainwashed and severely oppressed.
The purpose of this series, Demystifying the DPRK, is to challenge widespread misconceptions and claims that we hear in the West. In Part one, we are focusing on religion.Most readers have probably heard the common claims: that there is no religious freedom, that owning a Bible is illegal, and that religious people are suppressed and persecuted by the state. So let's take a closer look and see if we can clear up some of this.
The Religious Landscape of the DPRK
Before we begin, there is a vital fact we need to bear in mind when discussing this topic.
During the Korean War, US forces dropped 635,000 tons of bombs, including 32,557 tons of napalm on the DPRK¹, killing 20% of the population.² This devastating atrocity left virtually no village, town, or city untouched. At least 7,491 buildings for religious services were decimated in this time.³
It's quite striking that the people who accuse the DPRK of oppressing religious people the most, are the same ones who massacred them and destroyed their places of worship 75 years ago. Considering the above information, one can imagine how much work had to be done to rebuild religious centers throughout the country.
In fact, the DPRK did just that. According to the Swedish travel agency Korea Konsult, as of 2007 the DPRK was home to 800 Chondoist churches, 60 Buddhist temples, and at least 5 Christian churches (including three Protestant churches, one Catholic church, and one Russian Orthodox church). The 5 Christian churches are all in Pyongyang, which had the highest concentration of Christians before the Korean War. There is also a college for training Buddhist clergy and an Academy for Buddhist Studies.⁴ Pyongyang is also home to the Ar-Rahman Mosque, which is mainly used by Islamic diplomats and expatriates.
There are various religious associations and federations in the country, such as the Korea Buddhist Federation⁵, the Korean Federation of Christians⁶, the Korean Orthodox Committee⁷, and others. All of these groups are part of the Korean Council of Religionists.⁸
It should be noted that the population of the DPRK is mostly irreligious, but the two most common religions in the country are Chondoism and Korean Shamanism, both of which are indigenous to Korea.
The Chondoists even have their own political party called the Chondoist Chongu Party.⁹ This party also holds seats in the Supreme People's Assembly, which is the highest organ of state power in the country.
All of the activities and functions of the various religious organizations in the country are constitutionally guaranteed and protected. Article 68 of the Constitution of the DPRK states:¹⁰
Citizens have freedom of religious belief. This right is granted through the approval of the construction of religious buildings and the holding of religious ceremonies. Religion must not be used as a pretext for drawing in foreign forces or for harming the State or social order
With that said, there are still a few common claims that are easily disproven with a brief investigation.
Dispelling the Most Common Myths
1. "Religious people can't join the Workers' Party of Korea."
This is incorrect. For example, Kang Ryang-uk, who served as Secretary of the Supreme People's Assembly and Vice President of the DPRK in the 1970s, was also a Presbyterian minister and Chairman of the Korean Christian Federation.
His son Kang Yong Sop, who served as a Supreme People's Assembly delegate and vice-chair of the Pan-Korean Alliance for Reunification, was also on the central committee of the Korean Christian Federation, vice president of the Korean Council of Religionists, and director of the Pyongyang Theological Academy.
Many are also unaware that Kim Il Sung himself came from a Christian family.
To conclude this point, here's an excerpt from page 221 of Roland Boer's book Red theology: on the Christian Communist tradition, discussing Kim Il Sung's interpretation of Marx's statement that religion is the "opium of the people": ¹¹
On two occasions, Kim has an opportunity to reflect on this statement, both in reply to comrades who object to working with a religious group, one of them the Chonbulgyo and the other Chondoism. On the first occasion, Kim argues that one is ‘mistaken’ if one thinks that the proposition concerning opium ‘can be applied in all cases’. If a religion ‘prays for dealing out divine punishment to Japan and blessing the Korean nation’, then it is a ‘patriotic religion’ and ‘all the believers in this religion’ are ‘patriots’ (Kim 1994, i, 264). On the second occasion, he offers a slightly different interpretation. Now Marx’s definition ‘must not be construed radically and unilaterally’. For Kim, Marx was warning against the ‘temptation of a religious mirage and was not opposing believers in general’. The upshot is that the communist movement should welcome and ‘join hands with any patriotic religionist’.
2. "You can't have a Bible in the DPRK."
This claim is often repeated by Western media outlets and Christian organizations, but it is far from the truth. As Roland Boer explains on page 232 of the book cited above, the Pyongyang Theological College is responsible for publishing Bibles. So yes, Bibles do exist in the DPRK. This claim can be disproven by the images below.
The Holy Bible (ì„±ê²½ì „ì„œ) at Chilgol Church, North Korea (DPRK) (Photo: Uri Tours, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chilgol_Church_(15362092628).jpg
Chilgol Church, Pyongyang. Source: Koryo Tours https://koryogroup.com/travel-guide/chilgol-church-north-korea-travel-guide
3. "North Koreans don't have knowledge of Jesus."
This claim has been seen in defector testimonies and from Christian websites like Global Christian Relief. One prominent example is defector Yeonmi Park, who wrote in one of her books, "When we arrived, my mother and I had never heard of Jesus Christ."¹²
Before addressing Yeonmi Park's claim directly, it's important to note that she is affiliated with multiple right-wing think tanks and receives funding from The Atlas Network.¹³ The Atlas Network is affiliated with the National Endowment for Democracy (NED),¹⁴ a US congressionally funded organization whose founder, Allen Weinstein, openly stated, "A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA."¹⁵
Putting that aside, the claim itself is demonstrably false. It can also be debunked by looking at pictures.
Orthodox Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Pyongyang (Photo: Russian Orthodox Church, Department for External Church Relations, 2021). https://mospat.ru/en/news/87875/
Changchung Catholic Church, Pyongyang, North Korea (Photo: Uri Tours, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0).
Final Thoughts
Despite the country being largely irreligious, religion is constitutionally protected and there is a variety of religious institutions and associations. The common claims we hear regarding this topic are demonstrably false. Hopefully this helps some people get a better understanding of the DPRK and move beyond the propaganda we hear so relentlessly in the West.
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