North Korea: Two-year-old sent to life imprisonment after Bible found in parents' possession (2024)

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North Korea: Two-year-old sent to life imprisonment after Bible found in parents' possession? ›

An entire family, including a two-year-old child, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2009 simply because a Bible was discovered in their possession. This shocking case highlights the extreme measures taken by the North Korean regime to suppress religious freedom.

Persecution in North Korea

If they are caught with a Bible, singing a hymn, or praying, they can face up to 15 years in a labor camp. Life in the camps is unbearable. Believers are forced to work 12 hours a day and are frequently beaten with metal rods. If they try to escape, they will most likely be shot or tortured.

Rights groups estimate that there are between 200,000 and 400,000 Christians in North Korea, and as many as 70,000 Christians have been imprisoned for their faith.

Korea, according to people who have witnessed them, public executions have been carried out in front of large crowds, often including young children.

While persons convicted of ordinary crimes serve fixed sentences, those convicted of political crimes are confined indefinitely. Punishment is extended to three generations – the offender's parents, siblings, and children are also incarcerated, as a way to pressure North Koreans to conform.

Officially, North Korea is an atheist state, although its constitution guarantees free exercise of religion, provided that religious practice does not introduce foreign forces, harm the state, or harm the existing social order.

The issue of Bible availability in China remains complicated. It is still not illegal to own a Bible in China. Since the Bible does not have an ISBN (International Standard Book Number), it cannot be sold or distributed within China in bookstores or other commercial markets.

What is the main Religion In North Korea? Officially North Korea is an atheist state, however according to most recent estimates, some religions do exist. These are the Korean religions of Shamanism and Chondoism, as well as Christianity & Buddhism.

His grandson, Kim Jong-un is also subsequently revered as a god. Because of this, any other religions with deities are a threat. Christianity is a threat to North Korea because it promotes faith and hope, and originates from the west. It, therefore, indicates dissent from the Juche Idea.

North Korea has strict laws about what you can bring into the country. It's illegal to bring in religious, p*rnographic or political items. Declare all published material and electronic devices when you arrive. It's also illegal to knowingly or unknowingly possess items that breach North Korean law.

What happened to the 2 year old in North Korea? ›

An entire family, including a two-year-old child, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2009 simply because a Bible was discovered in their possession. This shocking case highlights the extreme measures taken by the North Korean regime to suppress religious freedom.

Murder. Many people in North Korea are stricken with poverty and as a result, often resort to extreme measures in order to survive. Several defectors have reported hearing rumours that murder and cannibalism is rife in the country; these rumours first arose during the Great Famine of 1994 to 1998.

North Korea law specifies 'three generations of punishment'. If you commit a crime, your chil¬dren and grandchildren will also receive the full brunt of punishment, which often involves a lifetime in prison. Children born in prison are raised as prisoners because their “blood is guilty”.

North Korea's rules prohibiting jeans have been in place since the 1990s. Back then, leader Kim Jong-il declared denim trousers to be a symbol of Western - and specifically American - imperialism, which had no place in a socialist state, according to Seoul-based NK News.

They have a close special relationship and China is often considered to be North Korea's closest ally.

It is used for many offences, such as grand theft, murder, rape, drug smuggling, treason, espionage, political dissent, defection, piracy, consumption of media not approved by the government and proselytizing religious beliefs that contradict practiced Juche ideology.

Freedom of religion for all citizens and the separation of the state and religious organizations is guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, article 20. (1) All citizens shall enjoy the freedom of religion. (2) No state religion shall be recognized, and religion and state shall be separated.

North Korean authorities routinely send perceived opponents of the government to secretive political prison camps (kwanliso) in remote regions where they face torture and other ill-treatment, starvation rations, and forced labor. Collective punishment is also used to silence dissent.

While South Korea's constitution guarantees freedom of religion and separation of church and state, the government has been sympathetic to Christianity. It considers the religion to provide some ideological protection against their Communist neighbor.