Praying for 7 Countries of the World for 7 Years
2002 - 2009
Prayer Alert from Release International
North Korea is 'toughening up' its policies and penalties for citizens caught trying to
defect, according to a new report.
This prayer alert is part of Release
International's 7x7 initiative to encourage prayer and action for seven years
for seven countries where Christians face intense persecution: China,
Indonesia, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Sudan and Vietnam. If you would like to receive "Witness" the magazine of Release International or
become part at the "Release Group" based at the Church of Ascension,
writing letters on behalf of the persecuted church, contact David Hoskin on
01384 273961 or email
davidhoskin@supernet.com.
US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) says that Pyongyang now hands down 'longer
sentences in abusive prisons' if defectors are found trying to flee the country. A key
turning point, it says, was 2004 when South Korea airlifted 468 North Korean refugees
from Vietnam into the safety of its own territory - much to Pyongyang's fury.
Thereafter, says HRW, the punishment for illegal border-crossing has typically been
several years in prison, where defectors face beatings, forced labour and starvation.
Previously, the penalty was more likely to have been a few months in prison or labour
camp - though RI sources report that some repatriated defectors such as Christians have
been executed.
Indeed, HRW's report, which is based on interviews with North Korean defectors,
confirms the widely held belief that Pyongyang reserves particularly brutal treatment
for defectors who have met Christian missionaries and, worse still, those who have
turned to Christ.
One woman from Saebyul, interviewed in China, said: 'Now first-time offenders serve
one year in regular prison, second-time offenders three years. Those who went to
church [while in China] go to kwanliso [political prison camp] for 10 years.'
Tim Peters, director of RI partner Helping Hands Korea, which supports North Korean
defectors, says that the crackdown is symptomatic of a regime in meltdown. He claims
chronic food shortages are leading to unrest, corruption and widespread disillusionment
with political leadership: “The picture I see is a regime that is desperate to maintain
control of a population (which is) increasingly restive and even beginning to openly
question. The decay of the system, in my view, has caused it to rot to the very marrow
of society.”
Tim Peters says that some of the refugees with whom his organisation works say they
were released early from jail because they were able to pay their way out.
. Pray that North Korea will succumb to pressure to allow international monitors
in.
. Pray for the many Christians in North Korea who, with their families, are being
punished for putting their faith in someone other than their leader Kim Jong-il.