Activists claim Christian executed in North Korea

North Korea publicly executed a Christian woman last month for allegedly “spying for its enemies” and distributing the Bible, according to South Korean activists.

Stephen Do Hee-youn, from the Investigative Commission on Crimes Against Humanity, speaking about the situation in North Korea on July 24 — Photo by Hong Seong-jeong

Ri Hyon-ok, 33, was accused of spying for South Korea and the United States and organizing dissidents. She was executed in the northwestern city of Ryongchon bordering China on June 16, according to a report from the Investigative Commission on Crimes against Humanity, published on July 24.

The commission, a coalition of 50 activist groups, says Ri´s parents, husband and three children were sent to a political prison camp and another woman and a man have been arrested and their whereabouts unknown.

The report published Ri´s North Korean government-issued photo ID as evidence of the execution. Similar claims in the past have been difficult to confirm.

The commission is calling for North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il to be charged with crimes against humanity.

The coalition says membership of the “underground” Protestant Church has been growing in recent years and the North Korean government is ramping up its “war with religions.”

Persecution of Christians has increased in tandem with recent international conflict on North Korea´s nuclear program, Stephen Do Hee-youn, a Catholic member of the coalition told UCA News.

North Korean soldiers march along the North Korean side of the defense line at the Demilitarized Zone. Photo taken from inside a UNCMAC (United Nations Command, Military Armistice Commission) building. — Photo by Anthony W. Holmes

North Korea officially guarantees freedom of religion and there are several religious organizations of Buddhists, Catholics, Protestants, and followers of Chondo-gyo, an indigenous Korean religion. The first Russian Orthodox Church in Pyongyang was recently established.

However, the country has only one Catholic and two Protestant churches, all in Pyongyang.

North Korea has had no resident Catholic clergy since the end of the Korean War in 1953, although the Protestants have pastors and a seminary.

South Korean Catholic priests have made irregular visits to the country where they have been allowed to celebrate Mass but banned from talking to local Catholics.