Now that this year’s North Korean Freedom Week has concluded in Germany, it’s worth
considering the tragic story of Kim Yeo-man and nine other North Korean Christians who were imprisoned in 2008 for allegedly participating in an underground church in Hoeryong City.
These 10 believers essentially vanished since 2008, with no updates about their health or prison conditions.
Kim Yeo-man was said to be the best friend of Kim Sung-sik, another persecuted North Korean Christian. He influenced local politics in Hoeryong City and expressed strong opposition to the savage regime of Kim Jong-il at the time.
These 10 Christ followers were accused of being part of an anti-state Christian fellowship, with the authorities claiming that South Korean Christian organizations were aiding this house church. The group was arrested about six months after Kim Sung-sik’s arrest.
Tragically, Kim Yeo-man was discovered dead in his cell on February 16, 2009 — Kim Jong-il’s birthday. Suspicion surrounds his death to this day. The fate of the other nine Christians is unknown.
Despite these countless tragedies and ongoing unexplained disappearances of Christian and political prisoners in North Korea, there is always hope in Christ. Pastor Ju, a North Korean defector who fled persecution, commented about the situation in North Korea.
“The Kim family in North Korea is a group of three-generation hereditary idolization murderous gangsters. They have systematically imprisoned, beaten, shot, starved, and killed millions of their own people for the past 80 years, making the people of North Korea idolize them. The human rights issue in North Korea is a spiritual war to restore the sovereignty of Jesus Christ that was robbed by the Kim family in North Korea. It is the conscience of Christians to pray and act for those who are trapped in idols in North Korea. God’s eyes are not on North Korea, but on our souls who are praying with sorrowful and humble hearts. We are currently carrying out the ‘Manna Project’ to send the Bibles to North Korea so that one day the 25 million North Koreans can all have the Bible. John 8:32 “And you shall know the truth. And the truth shall make you free.”
Please join us in praying for the provision for the Manna Project and for many other North Korean Christians imprisoned and who have disappeared with no new information for many years. — International Christian Concern
