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Imagine
you were born in a country where everybody lives in constant fear. Anything
said against the government is grounds for execution or imprisonment. If you
say you believe in God or that you're a Christian you will be shot within minutes.
You must think what the government tells you to think, you must act how they
tell you to act, and you must do exactly what they tell you to do… or else.
You have no human rights, none at all. If the government doesn't kill you, the
lack of food probably will. Millions have died in a famine. This is the scariest
place in the world.
Imagine you were born in North Korea.
Very little is known about North Korea, a small country of 22 million people,.
It remains the most secluded and mysterious nation in the world. Yet, millions
of people are perishing and suffering at the hands of this ruthless regime.
This summer a team of three people traveled to China to meet refugees fleeing
from North Korea and learn about this reclusive society. Their findings are
laid out in this 10-part series entitled, "The North Korea Investigative
Report 2001." You will be shocked and disturbed by what you will soon discover.
Our prayer is that God might move your heart to feel what He does and to do
what He wants you to do.
Purpose of North Korea Investigative Report
North Korea
is a country shrouded in mystery. Foreign access to the country is heavily restricted
and official information is often grossly inaccurate. In order to hear first-hand
accounts of life in North Korea, our team traveled to northeast China to interview
North Korean refugees who are fleeing into China by the thousands. Our goal
is to compile their stories and provide insightful information that will help
equip and mobilize Christians for North Korea missions.
The Worst of the Worst
Recently a Newsweek article highlighted North Korea as the worst country in the world. Christopher Hitchens writes, "On the one hand, the country is marked by rigid and fanatical militarization, complete censorship and total party control. On the other, it continues to be plagued by galloping underdevelopment, scarcity and social implosion. No food and no culture. No future and no past. Just an unbearable present, both predictable and unstable. It can't get any worse than this, except that it will."
Though we agree with the Newsweek writer that North Korea is the worst of the worst, we believe that things will get better. There will be a day when God brings healing to the people of North Korea.
About North Korea
North Korea
is the world's last unreformed Stalinist state, ruled by the communist party,
the Korean Workers' Party (KWP). Kim Il Sung was the leader of North Korea until
his death in 1994. After a hiatus of three years, his son, Kim Jong Il, was
proclaimed KWP general secretary in 1997, and in 1998 reconfirmed as chairman
of the National Defence Commission (NDC) - now the highest state position.
Brief History
Japan's surrender in August 1945 marked the end of World War II and its occupation of Korea. The U.S. proposed a "temporary" division of the peninsula at the 38th parallel to the Soviet Union, for the limited purpose of accepting Japan's surrender. That division hardened into two separate states, which were declared in 1948: the Republic of Korea in the south and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north.
The Korean War (1950-1953) devastated the peninsula, especially in the North, where US saturation bombing wiped out cities, industries and dams. The armistice left the two Koreas separated by a demilitarized zone (DMZ) near the 38th parallel, which remains today.
Rapid industrialization in the early 1970s put North Korea ahead of the South economically, . However in the 1980s, South Korea's economy took off, greatly surpassing that of the North. Since the fall of communism in Eastern Europe in the early 1990s, the North Korean economy has come to a virtual standstill.
Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit, Country Profile 2000, North Korea
picture from the NK embassy in Beijing
RESOURCES
Video 
View the CBS video and article, "North Korea's Dirty Secret" (click on video link on right side of page), March 8, 2001.
View CNN video and article, "Hunger and Malnutrition Stalk North Korea," August 23, 2001.
Articles
"Worst of the Worst: Why North Korea is No. 1" (July 9, 2001, Newsweek)
"Escaping Paradise: The plight of North Korean refugees in China" (May 12, 2001, Asiaweek)
"North Korea: Background Notes" (Oct 2001, US State Department)
"CIA Factbook: North Korea" (2000, CIA)
