Nina Shea: North Korea’s human rights abuses continue

Nina Shea
2008-05-07 07:00:00.0
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WASHINGTON -

Documenting human rights abuses in North Korea is extraordinarily difficult because it is one of the most closed societies in the world. Little is known about the full extent of religious persecution and the extent of underground activity. What can be said unequivocally is that it is one of the world’s very worst persecutors.

The new World Survey on Religious Freedom of the Center for Religious Freedom ranks North Korea at the very bottom of its religious freedom scale. ... The government allows and controls three religious organizations: the Buddhist Federation, the Korean Christian Federation and the Korean Catholic Association. There are several hundred Buddhist temples, but most appear to be historical cultural sites, rather than active religious centers. Although 50 years ago the capital of Pyongyang was nicknamed “Asia’s Jerusalem” because of the strong influence of Christianity, there are now only four churches — two Protestant, one Catholic and one Orthodox. All are located in the capital and seem to be used solely to impress Western observers. No Roman Catholic priests live in the country, so the sacraments cannot be administered even in the showplace church. Foreign journalists ... who went unannounced on Easter Sunday found the churches locked and empty. ...