South Korea requests release of missionary in North Korea as rare footage shows arrest of Christians

As rare footage of the arrest of Christians in North Korea emerges, South Korea has officially requested the release of a missionary who was arrested in the country ten years ago.

South Korea has officially requested that North Korea release missionary Choi Chun-gil, who was arrested exactly ten years ago.

“Missionary Choi Chun-gil was unlawfully arrested by North Korean authorities in December 2014 and sentenced to lifelong ‘reform through labour’ on June 23, 2015,” said the South Korean Government in a statement.

“Currently, a total of six people are detained in North Korea, including three missionaries — Choi Chun-gil, Kim Jung-wook, Kim Kook-kie — and three North Korean defectors with Republic of Korea (ROK) citizenship.

“North Korea’s practice of unjustly and arbitrarily detaining missionaries is a blatant attempt to oppress freedom of religion or belief and silence the voice of the international community calling for human rights for the North Korean people.”

Since the men were sentenced to life imprisonment and forced labour, the North Korean state has not released any information about their whereabouts or wellbeing. Their families remain in the dark, not knowing whether they are dead or alive.

It’s a similar story for so many North Korean Christians – there are believed to be between 50,000 and 70,000 Christians held in one of the country’s notoriously awful prison camps.

• What’s it like to be a Christian in North Korea?

Rare footage shows arrested Christians

The request for Choi Chun-gil’s release comes as the South Korean broadcasting company KBS has obtained rare footage showing a man and woman who were arrested for their faith.

The video says that the couple had been trained in ‘enemy strongholds’ before infiltrating North Korea. They are held under gunpoint as they confess their ‘crime’: to tempt individual soldiers to place faith in God above the country’s supreme leadership.

The video, produced by North Korea’s Army Military Science Education Film Studio in 2010, is likely used to ‘educate’ soldiers and secret agents about the supposed threat posed by Christians who receive biblical training in safe houses outside of the country.

The footage is a stark reminder of how Christianity is viewed and portrayed in North Korea, and why those involved in safe houses outside the country put themselves at grave risk.

Regime denies persecution of Christians

Towards the end of last year, North Korean officials publicly denied that the country restricts Christians and other religious groups – as long as it’s not used to undermine the regime.

“The Right of Freedom of Expression and Religion is a fundamental right of citizens ensured by constitution,” a North Korean official said at the United Nations’ universal periodic review of human rights meeting on 7 November 2024.

“Article 67 and 68 clearly stipulates that citizens have freedom of speech, press and religion. With this legal guarantee in place, citizens can freely express their views, engage in press activities and are provided with conditions necessary for religious activities.”

Tellingly, he then outlined that these laws shouldn’t be abused. “The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea maintains the principle of restricting such speeches and press activities detrimental to other person’s rights, national security or public order, and not tolerating the use of religion as a means to bring down the government, disintegrating the political system or disturbing the public order.”

Darkest place to be a Christian

As our North Korean family have long testified, the notion of religious freedom in the country is a fallacy. It’s why, for best part of more than 30 years, North Korea has topped the World Watch List, making it the darkest place in the world to be a Christian.

And yet remarkably, because of the power of the gospel and the strength of the global church family, the church in North Korea remains firmly active and alive.

“The fact that you stand with us is proof that God hasn’t forgotten us,” says a secret believer. “On behalf of all the underground Christians, we give you thanks,” says another. “Our lives are very difficult, but we try to take care of each other as well as we can with your prayers.”

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support, and as a new year gets underway, please continue to remember your North Korean family.