Escaping North Korea: Defiance and Hope in the World's Most Repressive Country by Mike Kim

Author:Mike Kim [Kim, Mike]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780742556201
Amazon: 0742556204
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2008-07-28T16:00:00+00:00

Even in an utterly inhumane place such as the North Korean gulags, there are glimpses of humanity among the victims, moments of humor and generosity. North Koreans are some of the greatest survivors that I know They love life too much to give up, even when faced with impossible odds. They find a way to hold on to hope in the most desperate of circumstances.

SEVEN

Christianity and North Korea

If power is combined with trust, we can overcome even Heaven.

-Kim Jong Il

In April 2004, I left my home at the China-North Korea border and flew into Seoul for a week of meetings. After I finished all of my work in Seoul, I took a two-hour bus ride from Seoul to Taejon to visit my dad. On the highway, I saw a gigantic billboard that said "Jesus Loves You" in large yellow letters. I was a bit startled at first since I had spent the previous two months in China and North Korea-places where such expression would be completely forbidden. I thought to myself, "How strange that South Korea and North Korea are such polar opposites when it comes to Christianity." In that sense, the two countries could not be more different.

When you walk the streets of Seoul, signs of Christianity are everywhere. There are churches, Christian bookstores, and subway preachers. A neon cross or church stands at nearly every corner. South Korea has the largest church in the world: the Yoido Full Gospel Church. In 1992, the church boasted a membership of 700,000 (roughly 16 times larger than the biggest church in North America), made possible through multiple weekend services and satellite locations.' South Korea is also second only to the United States in the number of missionaries it sends abroad. Christianity is part of the very fabric of South Korean culture and society.

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