기쁨의발견 - YouTube Discovering Joy

기쁨의발견 - YouTube: 기쁨의발견(Discovering Joy) Episode. 2기쁨의발견(Discovering Joy)은 교육 치료사이자, 다섯 아이의 엄마 윤조이의 유튜브 채널입니다. 교육 치료사로서 10년 동안 평양에서 소아장애가 있는 아이들과 부모들을 교육하고 훈련하는 일을 해왔으며, 저 역시 ...








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단번도약, 북조선 — 炳翰

단번도약, 북조선 — 炳翰:

단번도약, 북조선

운칠기삼

십년이 흘렀다. 강산도 변했다. 세 명의 대통령이 바뀌었다. 이명박과 박근혜를 지나 문재인을 만났다. 오바마와 트럼프는 가고 바이든이 온다. 이단아 트럼프와의 이색적인 깜짝쇼는 허망하게 끝났다. 이제 미국의 주류, 본진과 진검승부를 펼쳐야 한다. 워밍업을 마치고 본무대에 오르는 것이다. 잠시 멈춤, 심호흡을 가다듬고 다음 30년을 준비해야 할 때이다. 마침 집권 10년차, 업그레이드에도 적절한 시점이다.     

 그래도 여전히 30대이다. 1984년생, 37살이다. 전 세계 30대 지도자 가운데 가장 경륜이 쌓인 리더이다. 건강관리에만 만전을 기한다면, 30년 후에도 집권하고 있을지 모른다. 유사왕조 체제, 백두혈통에 대하여 왈가왈부할 생각은 전혀 없다. 당장은 별나라와 딴나라, 이웃나라 사정인 탓이다. “우리민족”과 “주적”사이, “두 나라” 감각부터 훈련한다. 민족적 일체감과 반국(半國)적 배타감을 모두 접어두고, 실사구시로 접근한다. 북이 안정된 성장을 구가해야, 남도 평안하고 평온해질 수 있다.        

 2011년 그가 등장할 때, 나는 태평양 건너 미국에 있었다. 너댓살 아래의 동생뻘이 북조선의 최고 수장으로 등극한 것이다. 처음부터 직감했다. 나의 인생의 절반 이상이 ‘김정은 시대’가 되리라는 것 말이다. 동세대일 뿐만 아니라 ‘동시대인’이라 접수한 것이다. 미래를 함께 살아가고 더불어 만들어가야 할 파트너라고 생각했다. 필히 접점을 만들고, 점점 접촉을 늘려가야 했다.  

 시운이 좋다고도 여겼다. 그가 할아버지와 아버지에 비해 역량이 더 출중할지는 가늠하기 힘들다. 더 지켜보아야 할 일이다. 그러나 문명사학자의 견지에서 보건대 개인의 능력보다 더 중요한 것이 시대적 상황이다. 조상의 지혜를 빌자면, 운칠기삼(運七氣三)이다. 선대를 옥죄었던 미국의 패권이 저물어가는 시점에 그는 출발했다. 할아버지는 미국의 최전성기를 온몸으로 감당했다. 아버지는 일방적인 소련의 해체로 촉발된 탈냉전기, 선군정치로 몸빵을 해야 했다. 반면에 김정은 위원장은 미국의 내리막길에 권좌에 올라탔다.

 2020년대, 미-중 간 GDP 규모가 역전된다. 2028년을 점쳤다가, 코로나 팬데믹으로 2025년으로 당겨졌다. 골든크로스, 변곡점은 다소 유동적이지만 대세는 크게 변치 않는다. 양국 간 격차는 갈수록 벌어져 해방 100년이 되는 2045년, 건국 100년이 되는 2048년, 한국전쟁 100년이 되는 2050년 무렵이면 아시아가 주도하는 신세계질서가 완연하게 펼쳐진다. 유럽의 19세기, 미국의 20세기를 지나, 다시금 아시아의 21세기가 전개되는 것이다. 아편전쟁 이전으로의 전진(Back to the Future) , ‘반전의 시대’가 완수되고 완성되는 것이다. 그때에도 그는 여전히 일흔이 채 되지 않는다. 집권 30년을 넘는 경험을 축적한 노련하고 노회한 60대의 세계 지도자가 되어있을지 모른다. 실제로 왕조국가의 전성기는 일백년 초석을 다진 후, 삼대와 사대 째 열리는 경우가 흔하다.

재조산하 

고로 대세에 부합하는 대계, 재조산하(再造山河)의 마스터플랜을 짜야 하겠다. 2015년, 해방 70주년을 기하여 <유라시아 견문>을 떠날 때부터 내심으로 내 나름의 통일사업, 실력양성운동이라는 다짐을 품었다. 3년을 발품하여 30년의 밑천을 쌓겠다는 복안이었다. 북조선의 발전모델이 될 만한 나라들도 두루 살폈다. 눈에 든 나라가 크게 셋이다. 유럽의 스위스, 중동의 이스라엘, 동남아의 싱가포르이다. 600만의 싱가포르, 850만의 이스라엘, 900만의 스위스 인구를 합하면 얼추 2400만 북조선에 근접한다. “그린/글로벌 스위스”, “밀리테크 이스라엘”, “스마트 거버넌스 싱가포르” 등 핵심 키워드도 후루룩 떠올랐다. 장차 북조선의 개혁개방에 청사진으로 삼아도 무방한, 아니 충분한 밑그림이 되지 않을까 싶었다.

 <제네바 : 알프스의 소년, 김정은>이라는 제목의 초고도 후다닥 써내려갔다. 그러나 끝내 정리하지도 발표하지도 않았다. 때는 2017년 봄, 한반도 정세가 원체 엄중하고 험악하던 시절이다. 태평양을 사이로 말 폭탄이 무시로 쏟아졌다. 30대 리더의 가능성을 전망하는 글을 썼다가는 욕받이는 따 놓은 당상이었다. 비판과 비난이 걱정되었다. 혹여 연재가 중단될까 우려되었다. 감내하기보다는 묻어두기로 했다. 글도 때가 맞아야 하는 법이다. 이제사 그 때가 온 것 같다. 이제는 쓸 수 있다. 지난 10년을 반추하고, 다음 10년과 30년을 리셋하기에 안성맞춤 한 최적기이다. 귀국하고도 3년, 1000일을 묵혀둔 착상을 이제야 글로 풀어낸다.     

 지난 20세기 후반, 한국의 발전을 수식하는 말로 ‘압축성장’이라는 것이 있었다. 구미가 경험한 300년 근대화 과정을 30년 만에 해치웠다는 뜻이다. 상징적인 구호가 ‘빨리빨리’였다. 지적으로 세련되게 표현하면 ‘비동시성의 동시성’이라고 할 수 있다. 그러나 북조선은 그 300년을 30년으로 압축할 것도 없다. 산업문명에 기초한 근대화모델은 폐기처분되어야 할 적폐가 되었기 때문이다. 동시대의 기후재난과 팬데믹, 6번째 대멸종의 원흉이다. 구미는 물론이요 한국과 제3세계가 노정한 시행착오의 반복 없이 단숨에 단번에 퀀텀 점프로 비약해야 한다. 그들 식으로 표현하면 ‘단번도약’, 포스트-코로나 시대의 미래 경쟁에 당장 뛰어드는 것이다. ‘로켓맨’이라는 비아냥을 로켓과학자 같은 발상의 대전환, 문샷(Mooshot)으로 되받아치는 것이다. 고로 스마트뉴딜도 그린뉴딜도 별천지 이야기가 아니다. 공히 북조선의 과업이자 과제가 될 것이다.      

 당분간 북조선에서 다당제를 기대키는 어렵다. 그렇다면 유사왕조의 유사일당제 국가이면서도 세계 최고의 거버넌스를 구축한 싱가포르를 학습해 봄직하다. 유능한 당국(Party-State)체제를 구축하기 위해서는 비대하게 성장한 군부의 활로를 새로이 열어주어야 한다. 군대는 첨단과학기술의 총아이다. 핵기술과 인공위성기술은 북조선도 세계수준이다. 공히 에너지산업과 우주산업으로 전환시킬 수 있다. 군사테크놀로지를 산업화하고 상업화하는데 일가견이 있는 이스라엘의 밀리테크 노하우를 배워올 수 있는 것이다. 결정적으로 중요한 것은 세계의 대세와 대국을 두루 살피며 북조선의 장래를 구하는 최고 지도자의 견문과 안목이다. 다행히도 현재 북조선의 리더는 10대 시절 외국에서 공부한 유학파 남매이다. 공교롭게도 유럽 중에서도 가장 세계화된 스위스에서 살았다. 제네바회담이 열리고, 다보스포럼도 열리는 곳이다. 알프스의 소년/소녀였던 “정은이와 여정이”가 사춘기를 보낸 곳이다. 프리퀼로부터 연재를 시작한다. 산악열차 빙하특급(Glacier Express)을 타고 스위스로 이동한다.

출처 | 프레시안 | 21.1.15

민의 한반도 평화협정 선언 참여를 요청드립니다

민의 한반도 평화협정 선언 참여를 요청드립니다

민의 한반도 평화협정 선언 참여를 요청드립니다

한국전쟁이 발발한지 70년이 되었습니다. 그동안 정전체제, 분단체제가 한반도를 지배하며 한반도 주민들은 불신과 증오, 대립과 갈등으로 점철된 삶을 살아왔습니다. 해소되지 않은 냉전체제 아래 전쟁의 위협과 폭력은 우리의 일상이 되었습니다.

한반도의 끝나지 않은 전쟁으로 동북아시아는 무기경쟁의 각축장이 되었고, 이는 북의 핵무기 개발로 까지 이어졌습니다. 한반도의 불안이 동북아시아를 비롯한 세계의 평화를 위협하고 있는 실정입니다. 이것이 힘으로 상대를 굴복시키려는 적대정책이 불러온 결과입니다.

정전협정은 “쌍방의 한급 높은 정치회담을 진행하여 평화적 해결을 달성하는 것”(제2조 13항)을 언급하며 평화협정 체결의 필요성을 말하고 있지만, 관련 당사국들은 정전 70년이 지난 이 시점까지 평화협정 체결을 미루고 있습니다.

1991년 12월 남북 기본합의서 채택시 불가침 부속합의서를 채택한 바 있지만 그 실효는 의문스럽습니다. 또 북조선과 미국은 각각 자신의 이해에 따라 불가침조약 체결이나 불가침 의사를 밝힌 바 있지만 본격적으로 논의하지 않고 있습니다. 문제는 전쟁 당사자들이 평화협정을 체결하지 않는 한 합의하거나 제안한 군사적 조치의 실효성이 지극히 낮다는 데 있습니다.

수 차례에 걸친 남북, 북미 간 합의들이 있었지만, 한순간에 휴지조각이 되어버리고 마는 것이 오늘 한반도의 현실입니다. 이 불편부당한 현실을 더 이상 정치, 군사당국에 맡겨 해결해 주기를 기다리기엔 너무나 오랜 세월이 흘렀습니다.

안전한 삶의 보장과 평화를 염원하는 한반도 주민과 세계 시민의 의지를 모아 ‘민(民)의 평화협정’을 선언하며, 한반도의 평화체제 구축과 동북아시아를 비롯한 세계 평화를 향한 발걸음을 내딛고자 합니다.

시민평화포럼, 참여연대, 팍스크리스티코리아, 평화네트워크, 평화와 통일을 여는 사람들, 한국기독교교회협의회 화해•통일위원회, 한국YMCA전국연맹, 한국YWCA연합회, 흥사단 민족통일운동본부 등의 단체들이 ‘민의 평화협정 준비위원회’를 구성하여 아래와 같이 민의 평화협정 가이드라인을 마련하였습니다. 이 가이드라인을 토대로 향후 민의를 더욱 수렴하여 보다 완결된 형태의 평화협정안을 만들어 나가고자 합니다.

민의 평화협정 준비위원회는 이 선언문을 남, 북, 미, 중 4개국 정부와 UN에 전달할 예정이며, 향후 한반도 종전평화캠페인과 함께 한반도 평화체제 구축을 위해 세계 시민들과 협력해 나가고자 합니다. 이 민의 평화협정 선언에 참여해주시기를 정중히 요청드립니다.

문의 : 한국기독교교회협의회 화해통일국 노혜민 부장 (010-9887-9301 / mtschunsam@hanmail.net)

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세계교회협의회(WCC) "The Light of Peace (평화의 빛)" 출판

세계교회협의회(WCC) "The Light of Peace (평화의 빛)" 출판

The Light of Peace | World Council of Churches

The Light of Peace | World Council of Churches

The Light of Peace

Churches in Solidarity with the Korean Peninsula

2020

Edited by: 

Anne Casparsson

Marianne Ejdersten

Rev. Dr Jin Yang Kim

Ivars Kupcis

Peter Prove

Rev. Seung-Min Shin

Lyn van Rooyen

Translated by: 

Rev. Dr Jin Yang Kim

The publication aims to provide WCC member churches with resources for recognizing 70 years of unresolved conflict on the Korean Peninsula during 2020. 
The second publication in the series, the content is drawn from a variety of contributors, each with their own experience of, or expertise in, the Korean journey.
Emphasizing the importance of the spiritual response, every chapter again starts with a spiritual reflection, followed by a text, and ends with a prayer.
The publication will serve as an educational, spiritual, and formation resource and encourage churches and individuals to pray for peace, reunification, and an end to the war and division on the Korean Peninsula. It could be used in Bible study or for Korea interest- and other groups.

Specs: 183 pages; perfect; 4-colour cover
ISBN: 978-2-8254-1734-8 
Shelving/Topics: Religion/Korea
Rights: World, all languages

Download the full Publication (a higher resolution version is available on request from publications@wcc-coe.org)
Download the Publication in Korean

Editorial support: Mark Beach, former WCC Director of Communication 

Download below:

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Light of Peace: Churches in Solidarity with the Korean Peninsula

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Light of Peace publication - Korean

Time to embrace a life of reconciliation and unification

In the preface, Rev. Dr Sang Chang, WCC Asia president, reflects that it is time for the Korean Peninsula to embrace the life of reconciliation and unification. “This book traces the 70 years of modern Korean history, offering historical and geopolitical background on the division of Korea, as well as the spiritual and theological meanings of the global ecumenical initiatives for the peace and reunification on the Korean Peninsula,” writes Chang. “Each chapter will foster an awareness of the pain and suffering caused by the 70 years of Korean War, enlivened by personal stories, interviews, and prayers, beginning with a spiritual reflection that serves as a theological introduction to the chapter.”

WCC publishes The Light of Peace: Churches in Solidarity with the Korean Peninsula | World Council of Churches

WCC publishes The Light of Peace: Churches in Solidarity with the Korean Peninsula | World Council of Churches

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WCC publishes The Light of Peace: Churches in Solidarity with the Korean Peninsula

On 14 August, the World Council of Churches (WCC) will publish The Light of Peace: Churches in Solidarity with the Korean Peninsula, a collection of resources WCC member churches can use to recognize 70 years of unresolved conflict on the Korean Peninsula during 2020.

Available in:

• Français
• Deutsch
• Español
• Korean

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14 August 2020

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Peace and unity on the Korean Peninsula matters globally | World Council of Churches

Peace and unity on the Korean Peninsula matters globally | World Council of Churches


Peace and unity on the Korean Peninsula matters globally


While the peace process on the Korean Peninsula needs further progress built on trust, the COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected international humanitarian support and development cooperation efforts. World Council of Churches (WCC) communications invited Peter Prove, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, to discuss the current ecumenical engagement for Korea and role of churches in building a sustainable peace.


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Director of the WCC's CCIA Peter Prove, general secretary of the NCCK Rev. Lee Hong Jung (South Korea) and the chairperson of the KCF Rev. Kang Myong Chol (North Korea) holding hands in prayer and solidarity for peace and reunification on the Korean Peninsula during the EFK meeting in Bangkok in 2019. Photo:
NCCK
25 February 2021
Korea
Korean Christian Federation
National Council of Churches in Korea


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Peace-building: Conflict transformation & Reconciliation


How do you see the current status of relations between North and South Korea?

Prove: Clearly we have suffered a very serious reversal of the circumstances for the peace process on the Korean Peninsula in general. One reason for that is the way the peace process developed itself – the mismatch of expectations and assumptions, particularly between the USA and the DPRK, and a failure to take incremental steps of trust-building to provide a basis for further progress.

Among other things, the continued imposition of the most rigorous and severe sanctions regime that has ever been applied anywhere has had a serious impact not only in terms of humanitarian access, but also in terms of the political environment for progress towards peace – and while having demonstrably failed in the stated purpose of nuclear non-proliferation.

At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic has gravely affected opportunities for practical face-to-face engagement, whether for political, humanitarian, development or ecumenical purposes. We don’t know when these opportunities will open, but we hope that the situation regarding the pandemic will alleviate, bringing improvement.

What is the role of churches in building a sustainable peace in this context?

Prove: One of the most important things that we as churches globally can do is continue to pray for peace and reunification, for a sustainable and peaceful coming together of the Korean people, and that they are made aware of this accompaniment in prayer by churches around the world.

The principle of the ecumenical movement’s engagement in this issue has always been that peace must be made between the Korean people – it won’t be made for them by others. Our role is to support and be in solidarity, to accompany and encourage them on this journey.

Even with no physical meetings, 2020 was a busy year in churches’ advocacy and peace-building initiatives for the Korean Peninsula worldwide.

Prove: Initiatives that we undertook in the course of last year, with events and gatherings marking the 70th anniversary of the start of Korean War, were really important expressions of global solidarity with the churches and people of the Korean Peninsula, despite the constraints of the pandemic.

We continue to support the role and leadership of the South Korean churches – the National Council of Churches in South Korea has really been in the vanguard of these efforts for peace for many decades.

Given the practical impossibility of meeting our North Korean partners - the Korean Christian Federation - last year, we haven’t been able to officially convene the Ecumenical Forum for Korea. However, we have remained in close communication with the members of the forum informally, and we are looking forward to convening again in 2021.

Is the interest of churches growing, to engage in the peace-building initiatives for Korea?

Prove: We see more partners from among churches and church-based organizations around the world expressing interest in participating in this multilateral forum convened by the WCC. There are partners who are engaged or interested in engaging in humanitarian and development work in North Korea, and churches that want to be active in solidarity efforts for peace on the Korean Peninsula. These partners are coming from an increasingly wide range of church families; we have growing participation from Roman Catholic as well as Evangelical and other partners in the forum.

On the other hand, more and more churches and church-related organizations working in relation to North Korea are facing increasingly severe constraints due to the sanctions, deeply impacting humanitarian access and the capacity to do diaconal work with North Korean partners.

Nevertheless, the interest and commitment is still there, and we are gathering a large number and a wide spectrum of churches and church-based partners that wish to contribute.

What do you see as priorities moving forward?

Prove: Given all the unknowns, it’s vital that we maintain hope and continue to pray. Despite the fact that there are so many obstacles and constraints in terms of communication and cooperation, we should never give up.

We cannot resile from our longstanding commitment to peace and reunification for the Korean people. The problem will continue to be a problem, it will continue to fester and present a threat to the security and the future for all people in the region, and the whole world, unless a peaceful and sustainable solution is found.

What is your hope for 2021?

Prove: Our hope and prayer for this year is that there will be resumed intensity of engagement and cooperation as the COVID-19 pandemic diminishes, and even more hopefully, that there will be renewed efforts for political dialogue as the new administration in the USA has settles in.

Our purpose is as simple, and yet as deep, as remaining in relationship and communication with our Christian sisters and brothers in North Korea – despite constraints that currently exist and that have long existed in the history of our engagement with them for peace and reunification.

Ecumenical partners for peace on the Korean Peninsula gather to address changing world context (WCC press release 19 January 2021)

Commission of the Churches on International Affairs

WCC member churches in Korea

Ecumenical partners for peace on the Korean Peninsula gather to address changing world context | World Council of Churches

Ecumenical partners for peace on the Korean Peninsula gather to address changing world context | World Council of Churches


Ecumenical partners for peace on the Korean Peninsula gather to address changing world context


Convening online on 14 January, members and supporters of the Ecumenical Forum for Peace, Reunification and Cooperation on the Korean Peninsula recalled the initiatives undertaken during 2020 despite the constraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and reflected on the implications of a changing global context for efforts for peace.


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Photo:
Paul Jeffrey/WCC
19 January 2021
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National Council of Churches in Korea


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The meeting received a report on the World Council of Churches (WCC) “We Pray, Peace Now, End the War” prayer campaign, as well as news of the humanitarian and political impacts of the economic sanctions against North Korea.

In a greeting issued to the meeting participants, Rev. Dr Hong-Jung Lee, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in Korea, reflected on the “We Pray, Peace Now, End the War” global prayer campaign in 2020, and highlighted ongoing plans for peace initiatives in the next couple of years.

“Throughout the year 2020, I have come to the deep realization that the history, memory, and narrative of the Korean War are all interconnected with distinctive dimensions, involving various context-bound hermeneutical journeys of people who experienced the Korean War in different ways,” Lee said. “Through this hermeneutical journey, we the Korean people have identified causes and meanings within the Korean War, revealing in what way we remember and reinterpret and how we manifest the identities of our existence.”

Among other initiatives taken in 2020 in lieu of planned meetings and lobbying visits in support of initiatives for peace on the Korean Peninsula, Peter Prove, WCC director for International Affairs, highlighted the Joint Ecumenical Peace Message issued on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the start of the Korean War. Prove noted that this message “was co-sponsored by churches and ecumenical councils from as many as 16 countries that participated in the Korean War.”

The National Council of Churches in Korea also shared a letter sent to the US president-elect Joe Biden. The letter expressed hopes that this change in administration will mark a return to the US leading the world in protecting democracy, human rights, and life-saving responses to the global pandemic. “As we are grateful for the long and storied relationship between the US and the Republic of Korea, we look forward to a more hopeful future of working together,” reads the letter.

The participants also received expert input on how South Korea’s ban on anti-North Korea leaflets affects the context for peace-building, and how a virtual women’s pilgrimage visit to the Korean Peninsula in 2020 helped encourage and strengthen efforts for peace and reconciliation.

Presenting on the US presidential transition, Jim Winkler, president and general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, reflected on implications of the US election outcome for ecumenical efforts for peace on the Korean Peninsula. He proposed a joint meeting between the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA and the National Council of Churches in Korea to further discuss this, and expressed his commitment to hosting encounters with US policymakers in Washington to advocate for engagement and dialogue as a path to peace in Korea.

Following the meeting, Prove noted that though the pandemic had prevented planned visits and deeper engagement with the Korean Christian Federation of North Korea during 2020, “this meeting demonstrated that the ecumenical commitment to working for peace and reunification in partnership with our North and South Korean sisters and brothers remains strong and resolute.”

WCC publication The Light of Peace: Churches in Solidarity with the Korean Peninsula

The National Council of Churches in Korea

WCC member churches in Korea

North Korea news: Horrors of Christian persecution laid bare in harrowing report | World | News | Express.co.uk

North Korea news: Horrors of Christian persecution laid bare in harrowing report | World | News | Express.co.uk

Christian persecution: North Korea horrors laid bare in harrowing report into labour camps

HORRIFIC details have emerged from North Korean detention camps in which people are imprisoned, tortured and killed simply for being Christian.

By SIMON OSBORNE

00:00, Wed, Oct 28, 2020 | UPDATED: 10:09, Wed, Oct 28, 2020

North Korea: Defector discusses threats to her life in 2014

A shocking new report from London-based campaign group Korea Future Initiative lifts the lid on widespread abuse and religious persecution in Kim Jong-un's hermit kingdom. The report contains eye-witness accounts from survivors of the brutal camps who were subjected to almost unimaginable cruelty as a punishment for the beliefs. Survivors said Christians arrested for owning a Bible were fed water and sand, beaten, electrocuted and shot dead in front of fellow detainees.

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Men were beaten like dogs. Even in the cell. They screamed like crazy because they hurt so much

Labour camp survivor


Harrowing interviews revealed how children as young as three were arrested and subjected to full body searches, women were forced to undergo abortions or have newborn babies murdered.

Others were tortured or worked to death in barbaric forced labour camps in the strife-torn country where all religious worship and possession of items such as bibles, crucifixes and prayer books is forbidden.
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The grim report was based on extensive interviews with 117 exiled North Koreans who shed light on their experiences of religious persecution over the last 30 years.







The horrors of North Korea's prison camps have been exposed in a shocking new report (Image: GETTY)


One man who was arrested after converting to Christianity was forced into a metal cage measuring 3ft high by 4ft wide.

He told Korea Future Initiative researchers: "There were steel bars on all four-sides that were heated with electricity.

"Usually prisoners lasted only three or four hours in the cage, but I sat there for 12 hours and prayed.

"I kept praying to God to save me."



READ MORE: North Korea PARANOIA: Kim Jong-un launches desperate bid to stop spies




One survivor described his ordeal in a tiny metal cage (Image: KOREA FUTURE INITIATIVE)


Brutal beatings were commonplace in the labour camps (Image: KOREA FUTURE INITIATIVE)


Eyewitnesses have given harrowing evidence of torture in the camps (Image: KOREA FUTURE INITIATIVE)


Women suffered terrible treatment including sexual violence and forced abortions at a camp in North Hamgyong province.

One witness described how pregnant women were be were forced into induced labour before their babies were taken away and smothered by guards using sheets of plastic and cloth sacks.

The report said methods of torture included strangulation, sleep deprivation, the use of stress positions and pouring water laced with pepper down prisoner's nostrils.

A female former inmate told researchers: "Men were beaten like dogs. Even in the cell. They screamed like crazy because they hurt so much.

"Even though women were beaten less, I was hit in the face and my skin ruptured and I bled a lot.

"I wept a lot when they hit me again. Blood and discharge ruptured during my next pre-trial examination. They hit me again because I wept.'


Prisoners were often executed by firing squad if found guilty of owning a bible.

Others were killed for trying to smuggling pages torn from bibles into North Korea from China.

One eyewitness said the were so close to the executed person they "saw their flesh fall off. That is how close I was".



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SIX shocking ways Christians can be persecuted in the East[ANALYSIS]




A female guard on patrol at a North Korea prison camp (Image: GETTY)


Il-lyong Ju, exiled human rights advocate who helped compile the report said: "The cruel actions of the privileged few in North Korea who take our lives and control our thoughts must be prevented.

"North Korean officials, whose crimes evoke thoughts of Auschwitz, must be identified and held accountable.

"And we must not forget the testimonies of the survivors in this report who have overpowered death in North Korea.

"This is the least that we, the free North Koreans, and you... who has been granted freedom at birth, can do as our collective act of humanity.

"We have freedom. The North Korean people do not."



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North KoreaKim Jong-unChristianity

N. Korean Christians keep faith underground amid crackdowns

N. Korean Christians keep faith underground amid crackdowns
By HYUNG-JIN KIMFebruary 2, 2019





SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — One North Korean defector in Seoul describes her family back home quietly singing Christian hymns every Sunday while someone stood watch for informers. A second cowered under a blanket or in the toilet when praying in the North. Yet another recalls seeing a fellow prison inmate who’d been severely beaten for refusing to repudiate her religion.

These accounts from interviews with The Associated Press provide a small window into how underground Christians in North Korea struggle to maintain their faith amid persistent crackdowns.

The North’s treatment of Christians could become a bigger issue if North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s expected second summit with President Donald Trump produces significant progress, and if Pope Francis follows through on his expressed willingness to take up Kim’s invitation to visit North Korea.

Most of North Korea’s underground Christians do not engage in the extremely dangerous work of proselytizing, according to defectors and outside experts. Instead, they largely keep their beliefs to themselves or within their immediate families. But even those who stay deep underground face danger, defectors say.

North Korea has previously arrested South Korean and American missionaries for allegedly attempting to build underground church networks or overthrow its government. Only a small number of North Korean believers risk trying to win converts, defectors say.

One woman interviewed said she converted about 10 relatives and neighbors and held secret services before defecting to the South.

“I wanted to build my church and sing out as loud as I could,” said the woman, who is now a pastor in Seoul. She insisted on only being identified with her initials, H.Y., because of serious worries about the safety of her converts and family in the North.

The pastor and others spoke with AP because they wanted to highlight the persecution they feel Christians face in North Korea. Although the comments cannot be independently confirmed, they generally match the previous claims of other defectors.

Kim Yun Tae, head of the Unification Strategy Institution, a private think tank in Seoul, said he’s heard similar testimonies about religious crackdowns and underground Christians during interviews with more than 1,000 defectors from North Korea over the past 20 years.

North Korea has five government-sanctioned churches in its capital, Pyongyang, but experts say they are fakes aimed at covering up the nation’s religious abuse and winning outside aid. North Korea had a flourishing population of Christians before the 1950-53 Korean War, but it has withered amid successive clampdowns against a faith the government sees as a U.S.-led Western threat.

“From an outside perspective, there is absolutely no religious freedom in North Korea,” said Kim Yun Tae, who isn’t religious.

The U.S. State Department has included North Korea on its list of countries violating religious freedom every year since 2001. North Korea has previously bristled at U.S. criticism of its religious record, calling it proof of hostility toward its leadership.

In October, Pope Francis indicated his willingness to visit North Korea to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who conveyed Kim’s desire for a papal visit, according to Vatican and South Korean officials.

Moon’s office cited Francis as saying that “if the invitation comes, I will surely respond to it, and I can possibly go.”

Most remaining Christians in North Korea likely learned about the religion when they went to China after a devastating famine killed hundreds of thousands in the mid-1990s. Converts were later captured in China and jailed once they were sent back to the North.

Most denied their faith while being interrogated, as H.Y. said she was later forced to do when imprisoned in the North, so they could survive. But not everyone did.

Another defector in Seoul, Kwak Jeong-ae, 65, said a fellow inmate in North Korea told guards about her own religious beliefs and insisted on using her baptized name, rather than her original Korean name, during questioning in 2004.

“She persisted in saying, ‘My name is Hyun Sarah; it’s the name that God and my church have given to me,’” Kwak said. “She told (the interrogators), ‘I’m a child of God and I’m not scared to die. So if you want to kill me, go ahead and kill me.’”

Kwak said Hyun told her about what she did during the interrogations, and Hyun’s actions were confirmed to Kwak by another inmate who was interrogated alongside her. Kwak said she later saw Hyun, then 23, coming back from an interrogation room with severe bruises on her forehead and bleeding from her nose. Days later, guards took Hyun away for good.

Actions like that strike many defectors and South Koreans as extraordinary.

More common are stories like that from another defector, who also insisted on anonymity because of fears for her family in the North. She said she only prayed under a blanket or in the toilet because of worries of being caught.

Another, who was jailed after being repatriated from China, described praying silently in his cell after a hungry fellow prisoner shared some precious kernels of corn.

“We communicated by writing on our palms (with our fingers). I told him I was a Christian and asked whether he was too,” said the man, who asked to be identified only as J.M., citing safety concerns about his siblings in the North.

Some were even more outspoken.

Jung Gwangil, a North Korean defector-turned-activist, said he saw a man praying and singing hymns when they were held together at a detention facility in the northern city of Hoeryong in October 1999. The man was beaten frequently and one day was hauled away, Jung said.

“While leaving, he shouted to us, ‘God will save you.’ I hadn’t encountered Christianity before at the time, and I thought he was crazy,” said Jung. It wasn’t clear what happened to the man.

After H.Y. was sent back again to North Korea, she began evangelical work with money she received regularly from outside missionary groups. She said she first tried to win people’s trust by lending them money, handing out corn and helping at funerals before cautiously telling them about Christianity.

“We sang hymns very quietly, looking at each other’s lips. I ended up crying quite often,” she said of her converts.

Now in her early 40s, she said she regularly sends money to North Korea through brokers to maintain her village’s underground congregation.

___

Follow Hyung-jin Kim at www.twitter.com/hyungjin1972
N. Korean Christians keep faith underground amid crackdowns