{"id":47308,"date":"2023-07-04T14:00:55","date_gmt":"2023-07-04T05:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=47308"},"modified":"2023-07-04T16:36:07","modified_gmt":"2023-07-04T07:36:07","slug":"vomk-report-261","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2023\/07\/04\/vomk-report-261\/","title":{"rendered":"EVIDENCE OF NORTH KOREA\u2019S CHRISTIAN PAST \u201cHIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”47301″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”In a recent class at one of Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u2019s discipleship training schools for North Korean defectors, Dr. Hyun Sook Foley, the ministry\u2019s Representative, was teaching the students about Missionary Robert Jermain Thomas, one of the earliest Protestant missionaries to Korea who was martyred while attempting to sail up the Taedong River near Pyongyang in 1866 on a missionary journey. \u201cAs I shared the story, the North Korean students, most in their 60\u2019s, realized that they had already been taught this history before\u2014just from the perspective of the NK government,\u201d says Representative Foley.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” el_class=”headline”][vc_column_text]Representative Foley says that such remembrances of Christianity, which she describes as \u201chidden in plain sight<\/span>\u201d,<\/span> occur <\/span>frequently<\/span> as she <\/span>teaches<\/span> North Korean students.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]\u201cSurprisingly, the history of Christianity in North Korea is in many ways well preserved by the North Korea government\u2014not for the purpose of honoring it but for the purpose of portraying Kim Il Sung\u2019s purported victory over it,\u201d says Representative Foley.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]W<\/span>hen Dr. Foley <\/span>shared with the students <\/span>that Missionary Thomas <\/span>had been aboard a ship called <\/span>the General Sherman<\/span>, \u201c<\/span>Mrs. E<\/span>\u201d (name changed for security reasons)<\/span> remembered an “Invader Ship Sherman” event that she had attend<\/span>ed<\/span> as a <\/span>youth.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Mrs. E shared that when she was in her early teens and living in Pyongyang, there was an event held on the Daedong river<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201c<\/span>She said that <\/span>many citizens of Pyeongyang came to attend the event<\/span>, which consisted of re-enactments of the <\/span>burning of the <\/span>\u2018<\/span>Sherman Invader Ship<\/span>\u2019<\/span>.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”47306″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”A 2006 North Korean postage stamp commemorates the burning of the General Sherman, a ship carrying early Korean missionary Robert Jermain Thomas who was killed in the event. (Photo Credit: Dawkish Blog) (Photo Credit: as found on Facebook)<\/p>\n

” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230f0f0f|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]According to Mrs. E, h<\/span>igh schoolers and college students volunteered their time to make replicas of the ship and recreate the events of the General Sherman incident.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>The N<\/span>orth Korean authorities told the attendees that <\/span>Missionary Thomas came to take Prince <\/span>Daewongun’s<\/span> crown, but <\/span>that <\/span>Kim Il-Sung’s grandfather Kim Eung-Woo drove Missionary Thomas away and sent a fireship toward the General Sherman and incinerated it<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Mrs. E said that the onlookers watched the burning ship and were impressed.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”47304″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”The Cross and other Christian artifacts appear regularly on North Korean state television, as shown in this screen shot from the introduction of a popular North Korean television program.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230f0f0f|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]According to Representative Foley, such experiences of Christian history being \u201chidden in plain sight\u201d in North Korea are common among North Koreans.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cross actually appears on television frequently in North Korea, via a program that includes a shot of the cross and other religious items in the program\u2019s introduction,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cStudents at North Korean schools are taught stories of foreign missionaries in their curriculum<\/span>, and missionaries appear in many North Korean movies<\/span>. <\/span>Of course<\/span> such portrayals are never positive. The stories are told from the perspective of the North Korean government, to show how Kim Il Sung rescued the country from Christianity and other purported \u2018foreign <\/span>invaders\u2019<\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Sometimes elements of Christianity are borrowed, <\/span>modified<\/span>, and re-deployed as part of North Korea\u2019s Juche ideology. Representative Foley recalls bringing a North Korean defector to London to speak at churches there. \u201cRight before he was scheduled to share his testimony, the church sang the hymn, \u2018How Great Thou Art\u2019,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cThe North Korean became alarmed and asked me, \u2018Why are they singing that North Korean government song\u2019? As many analysts have noted, many of the songs in the \u2018Kim Il Sung Hymnal\u2019 are originally Christian songs, with lyrics re-written to praise Kim Il-Sung rather than the Christian God.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]\u00a0Representative Foley says that in addition to <\/span>these <\/span>evidences<\/span> of North Korea\u2019s Christian history being preserved <\/span>by the North Korean state<\/span>, <\/span>North Koreans also <\/span>encounter<\/span> Christianity through the activities of underground North Korean Christians, often without realizing it.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of our North Korean students, when they come to South Korea, hear a Christian Bible story or see a Christian activity like prayer, and they realize they saw or heard the same thing inside of North Korea<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cSome recall waking up overnight and seeing their grandparents or parents sitting up with their eyes closed, hands clasped together, mumbling words. At that <\/span>time<\/span> they just attributed the experience to senility. But after learning about prayer from Christian missionaries or from churches in China or South Korea, they realize that they <\/span>very likely<\/span> came from a Christian family without even realizing it.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”47305″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”Previously unknown North Korean Christian martyr Cha Deok Sun, whose story was preserved in an anti-religion training video created by North Korean authorities for security agents.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230f0f0f|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]According to Representative Foley, these experiences reveal God at work, preserving North Korean Christian history and the stories of North Korean Christian martyrs even through Christianity\u2019s fiercest persecutors\u2014the North Korean government. She points to the story of Cha Deok Sun, a previously unknown North Korean Christian martyr whose story is preserved in a North Korean government video used to train state security agents how to <\/span>identify<\/span> and silence proponents of religion inside North Korea.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cThe purpose of the North Korean government video is to discredit practitioners of religion,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cBut by deciphering the story told in the video we learn for the first time about a bold and courageous North Korean evangelist who received Christ in China and returned to North Korea instead of escaping to the South.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]According to Representative Foley, the video says that d<\/span>ue to her poverty, Cha Deoksun was given permission by the government to travel between towns in North Korea to <\/span>provide for<\/span> herself. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>During her travels, Cha Deok<\/span> S<\/span>un evangelize<\/span>d<\/span> others<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>According to the video, she gave money to people who were poor, lower class, or suffering. She also found the descendants of several prominent Korean Christians and worshipped together with them. The video claims that these groups of underground Christians gathered every Sunday to worship, pray, sing hymns, and study the scripture\u2014even during the busiest farming season.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The video describes Cha Deok Sun as a spy <\/span>seeking<\/span> to recruit other spies. \u201cThis is the typical definition of evangelism used in NK propaganda,\u201d says Representative Foley.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The video says that eventually, Cha Deok<\/span> S<\/span>un was reported by \u201ca good and awakened North Korean citizen.\u201d<\/span> But as Representative Foley notes, \u201cThe identity of that \u2018good and awakened citizen has been lost forever, but the Lord made sure that story of Cha Deok Sun would not be lost but would be preserved by the persecutors who martyred her.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Individuals interested in learning more about Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u2019s North Korean ministry can visit <\/span><\/span>https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/<\/span>en\/<\/span><\/span>northkorea\/<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”47301″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”In a recent class at one of Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u2019s discipleship training schools for North Korean defectors, Dr. Hyun Sook Foley, the ministry\u2019s Representative, was …","protected":false},"author":659,"featured_media":47302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[857,235,869,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-russian-special","category-special-column","category-china-special","category-vomk-report"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en","zh","ru"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"zh":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/659"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47308"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47326,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47308\/revisions\/47326"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}