Christianity in North Korea - Religious Demography

Religious Demography

The country has an area of approximately 47,000 square miles (120,000 km2) and a population estimated at 22.7 million. The number of religious believers was unknown but was estimated by the government to be 10,000 Protestants, 10,000 Buddhists, and 4,000 Catholics. Estimates by South Korean and international church-related groups were considerably higher. In addition, the Chondogyo Young Friends Party, a government-approved group based on a traditional religious movement, had approximately 40,000 practitioners, according to the Government.

According to Religious Intelligence UK the situation of religion in North Korea is the following:

• Irreligion: 15,460,000 (64.3% of population, the vast majority of which are adherents of the Juche philosophy)
• Korean Shamanism: 3,846,000 adherents (16% of population)
• Cheondoism: 3,245,000 adherents (13.5% of population)
• Buddhism: 1,082,000 adherents (4.5% of population)
• Christianity: 406,000 adherents (1.7% of population)

According to a South Korean press report, in 2002 the chairman of the Association of North Korean Catholics stated that the Catholic community in the country had no priests but held weekly prayer services at the Changchung Catholic Church in Pyongyang. However, some doubt that all of those attending Mass were Catholic. According to state-controlled media reports, following the death of Pope John Paul II in April 2005, a memorial service was held at this church, and services were also held at family worship places across the country.

In Pyongyang there were reportedly three state-controlled Christian churches: two Protestant churches under lay leadership—the Bongsu and Chilgol churches—and the Changchung Roman Catholic Church. One of the Protestant churches is dedicated to the memory of former leader Kim Il-sung's mother, Kang Pan-sok, who was a Presbyterian deaconess. The number of congregants regularly worshiping at these churches is unknown.

The Presbyterian Church of Korea in the South is partnering with the Christian Association in North Korea to rebuild Bongsu Church. In the fall of 2006, a delegation of 90 Christians from South Korea visited the Bongsu church to celebrate completion of its first phase of renovation, according to press reports. According to religious leaders who travel to the country, there were Protestant pastors at these churches, although it was not known if they were resident or were visitors.

In its July 2002 report to the U.N. Human Rights Committee, the country reported the existence of 500 "family worship centers." The country did not define the term; however, observers stated that "family worship centers" were part of the state-controlled Korean Christian Federation, while "underground churches" were not part of the Federation and were not recognized by the Government. Some NGOs and academics estimate there may be up to several hundred thousand underground Christians in the country. Others question the existence of a large-scale underground church or conclude that no reliable estimate of the number of underground religious believers exists. Individual underground congregations are reportedly very small and confined to private homes. At the same time, some NGOs report that the individual churches are connected to each other through well-established networks. The regime has not allowed outsiders the access necessary to confirm such claims.

There were an estimated 300 Buddhist temples. Most were regarded as cultural relics, but religious activity was permitted in some. A few Buddhist temples and relics have been renovated or restored in recent years under a broad effort aimed at "preserving the Korean nation's cultural heritage." In October 2005 tourists from the Republic of Korea (ROK) and other international tourists were permitted to view the reconstruction of the Shingye or Singyesa (or Holy Valley) Temple, which was destroyed during the Korean War of 1950-53. The reconstruction was funded by the ROK Government and foreign tourists and was expected to be completed in 2007. A South Korean monk, the first to permanently reside in North Korea, has lived at the temple since 2004, but was expected to serve primarily as a guide for visiting tourists rather than caring for Buddhists living in the area.

According to the country's media accounts, renovation of the Ryongthong temple in Kaesong was completed in early 2005. A restoration ceremony was held in October 2005 with participants from North and South Korea and Japan. Foreign diplomats in Pyongyang who visited the site were told that the two monks living there may be joined by more. The Government announced in June 2007 that 500 monks and Buddhist followers were making day-long pilgrimages to the temple strictly for religious purposes. Plans were being made for 2,000 more Buddhist followers from South Korea to make the pilgrimage later in the year. State-controlled press reported on several occasions that Buddhist ceremonies had been carried out in various locations. Official reporting also linked descriptions of such ceremonies with the broader theme of Korean unification.

The Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church opened in Pyongyang on August 13, 2006. The church was reportedly commissioned by Kim Jong-il after he visited an Orthodox cathedral in Russia in 2002. According to a Russian press report, a Russian priest served the cathedral, and a religious leader who traveled to the country confirmed that the church was run by a priest of North Korean origin who had studied in Russia. The purported aim of the church was primarily to provide pastoral care of Russians in the country, but one religious leader with access to the country speculated that the church likely extended care to all Orthodox Koreans as well. As with other religious groups, no reliable data exists on the number of Orthodox believers in the country.

Several foreigners residing in Pyongyang attended Korean-language services at the Christian churches on a regular basis. Some foreigners who had visited the country stated that church services appeared staged and contained political content supportive of the regime, in addition to religious themes. Foreign legislators attending services in Pyongyang in previous years noted that congregations arrived at and departed services as groups on tour buses, and some observed that they did not include any children. Other foreigners noted that they were not permitted to have contact with congregants. Foreign observers had limited ability to ascertain the level of government control over these groups, but it was generally assumed they are monitored closely. According to the 2006 Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU) White Paper, there was no evidence that any of the central religious organizations maintained branches in the provinces.

Overseas faith-based aid organizations have been active in responding to the country's food and humanitarian crises. However, many such organizations report that they are not allowed to proselytize, their contact with nationals is limited and strictly monitored, and they are accompanied by government escorts at all times.

In March 2007 the Barnabas Fund, a Christian charity, helped to open a bakery in Songbong. A South Korean Buddhist group, Join Together Society (JTS), continued to operate a factory in the Rajin-Sonbong Free Trade Zone to produce food for preschool children, which it has done since 1998. Catholics of the Seoul archdiocese continued to operate a noodle factory that they opened in 2001.

The regime has allowed a number of high-profile religious leaders to visit the country. In March 2007 Bishop Lazarus You Heung-sik of Daejeon, president of Caritas Corea, led a 10-member team on a visit to the country in the fifth such visit since September 2006. Following the March trip, Caritas reached an agreement with local officials to continue and expand aid for medical and food-producing facilities, according to press reports. According to the agreement, in 2007 Caritas will provide medical equipment for a hospital, equipment for a seed-potato production facility, and medical support for clinics in a rural area. In May 2007, as part of this project, a Catholic delegation visited 17 pediatric hospitals in Pyongyang and Nampo, among other areas, where they delivered medication for tuberculosis.

In early February 2007 more than 140 members of the Korean Catholic Farmers' Movement from 15 South Korean dioceses met at Mt. Kumgang for the group's annual general assembly meeting, according to a press report. Officials managing Mt. Kumgang's special tourism zone had suggested a project in which the North would provide farmland and workers while the Farmers' Movement would provide technology.

Pastor Rick Warren announced in 2006 that he had been invited by the Government to preach to 15,000 Christians in the country in March 2007. His 2006 planning trip was postponed following the Government's July 4–5 missile launches. In February 2007 he announced that he would pursue a later date for the trip.

Some South Korean religious groups visited the country to promote reunification. In May 2007 a South Korean interfaith delegation visited Pyongyang where it met with the North Korean Government's Council of Religionists to discuss reunification of the peninsula. Following instructions from the Vatican, the Catholic members of the delegation refrained from celebrating mass to avoid giving the Eucharist to North Koreans posing as Catholics.

In April 2006 the Catholic archdiocese of Seoul sent a 61-member delegation to the country, led by Mgr. Thomas Aquinas Choi Chang-hwa, the director of the National Reconciliation Committee. During the visit the Catholic Association of North Korea proposed a joint visit to the Vatican with the Seoul archdiocese, which the association said it hoped would lead to an audience with the Pope. The Vatican has thus far discouraged such a visit, citing ongoing concerns about the juridical and canonical status of the state-founded Catholic Association of North Korea.

In June 2005 Venerable Bubjang, head of the Jogye Order, the largest Buddhist sect in the ROK, and at the time the chair of the national council on religious leaders in that country, traveled to Pyongyang to mark the fifth anniversary of the June 2000 inter-Korean summit.

In October 2005 a delegation from the state-controlled Korean Christian Federation (DPRK) attended an international solidarity meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, sponsored by the Evangelical Church in Germany, according to a government media report.

Several schools for religious education exist in the country. There are 3-year colleges for training Protestant and Buddhist clergy. A religious studies program also was established at Kim Il-sung University in 1989; its graduates usually worked in the foreign trade sector. In 2000 a Protestant seminary was reopened with assistance from foreign missionary groups. Critics, including at least one foreign sponsor, charged that the Government opened the seminary only to facilitate reception of assistance funds from foreign faith-based NGOs. The Chosun Christian Federation, a religious group believed to be controlled by the Government, contributed to the curriculum used by the seminary. In September 2003 construction reportedly was completed of the Pyongyang Theological Academy, a graduate institution that trains pastors affiliated with the Korean Christian Federation. In December 2005 citizens who were expected to staff Pyongyang's Russian Orthodox Cathedral traveled to Vladivostok for training in ordination and other rituals.