North Korea is continuing its crackdown on underground churches, with dissident media reporting that authorities are “patting themselves on the back for getting religion under control.”
The Seoul-based DailyNK news site reported on November 18 that its sources inside North Korea said the regime was confident it had “practically destroyed” underground churches and worship groups.
However, defectors and human rights activists told DW that they believe small groups and individuals secretly committed to their faith still exist in the north.
“They have been targeted by the regime and many have been detained, but we know there are still strong Christians who are worshiping in small groups or as individuals,” said Song Young-chae, a South Korean academic and activist with the Worldwide Coalition to Stop Genocide in North Korea.
“There are defectors who have arrived in South Korea this year and they say this is still happening, and other defectors who still have contacts there say the same thing,” Song told DW.
“We also have our contacts. I can’t give you more details because it would be dangerous for them, but we know they are still there.”
pockets of religious resistance
Some sections of the religious resistance may be on the move, but there is no doubt that they are being persecuted.
Article 68 of the Constitution of North Korea guarantees freedom of religious belief, although in reality the regime strictly controls all religious activities because it views the church as a threat to its power.
Instead of religious teachings, children are taught from an early age to worship the three generations of the Kim family, who have ruled the country with an iron fist since the nation’s founding in 1948.
Christians have long been targeted due to the perception that they are associated with Western influences, with anyone caught with a Bible, praying or engaging in any form of illegal worship met with severe punishment.
Faith classified as anti-state
Anyone suspected of holding religious beliefs may also be identified as a member of a “hostile class”, which leads to discrimination in terms of work assignments, educational opportunities, where people can live, and other social punishments.
The crackdown on religion has intensified since the implementation of the Youth Education Guarantee Act in September 2021, which puts religious activities on the list of activities that are completely banned for young people. In line with the new law, the Ministry of State Security is increasing its repression.
“There is no separate department to crack down on religion, but counterintelligence departments classify religious activity as ‘anti-state crimes’ and investigate it themselves,” the DailyNK report quoted a North Korean source as saying.
“Provincial, city and county security agencies take autonomous action, and in particular, there is intensive action in border areas, where outside information often penetrates.”
exposed to the outside world
The source said additional testing is being done for people who have studied abroad, are working abroad or who tried to flee but were forcibly sent back.
Along with sending Protestants and Catholics to prison camps, “if they were found involved in religious activities after returning home, they were immediately arrested.”
These claims match reports from charities such as Christian Solidarity Worldwide and government reports on human rights. In its 2025 annual report, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom identified North Korea as a “country of particular concern”.
The North was described as “one of the worst religious freedom violators in the world in 2024”. Report He said Pyongyang “views religion as a threat to the country’s existence” while Christians are seen as “collaborators of imperialist forces and enemies of the nation and the revolution.”
“Simply possessing a Bible, interacting with Christian missionaries or attending worship can result in severe punishment, including torture, forced labor, imprisonment, and execution,” it said. As of 2024, three South Korean missionaries captured by the North are still being held behind bars for at least a decade, it said.
“There is no freedom of religion in North Korea,” said Eunju Kim, who fled the North with her mother in the 1990s and is now a campaigner for the Hanvoice refugee resettlement organization in Seoul.
quiet defiance
“There is a church in Pyongyang, but it’s only so they can claim people are free to practice religion, while in reality anyone who does is punished,” he said. “The state views religion as a political crime and carries severe penalties and, in the worst cases, execution.”
But there are still some people who choose to quietly defy the rule.
“They can ban religion, but they can’t stop people from believing in Jesus Christ,” Kim said. “Those who experienced church and Christianity in China before being deported back to North Korea may still maintain their faith and belief in God and some of them will continue to worship.”
“They will do it quietly, without telling anyone around them because it is not safe,” he said.
“There will be small groups, but many people will pray alone.”
Edited by: Keith Walker