Punishments for Religious Acts in Decline

The North Korean authorities have adopted an easier line toward North Koreans who engage in simple religious activities in China, Daily NK has learned. The change of policy is believed to reflect the sheer number of North Koreans seeking assistance from Christian churches during periods spent in Northeast China.

A source in Dandong with close connections to North Korea reported to Daily NK on the 11th, “The North Korean authorities have eased their punishments for people who make contact with churches or attend religious ceremonies while they are in China. This even includes defectors.”

In the past, going to a church or just reading the Bible could end with an offender being sent to a re-education facility or political prison camp, the source said. Now, however, although people engaging in extensive religious activities can still expect punishment, “Going to a church merely to seek financial aid or something of that ilk is not being taken seriously.”

“Of the North Koreans who go to China and then return, something like 80% visit churches or meet with a religious person to request assistance,” he claimed. “There are so many people who do this that they cannot all be punished, so they authorities are subjecting them to basic interrogation and then letting them go with a stern warning.”

“The authorities are very well aware that though North Koreans may go to church and say they believe in God, there is no way that they could develop any form of faith in a matter of a few days or a month when they’ve lived under the Chosun system for decades,” the source went on. 
However, it is still the case that anyone who criticizes Kim Jong Eun, the Kim family or the North Korean government disappears and is never seen again.
“There have been cases of North Koreans being kidnapped by the State Security Department and forcibly repatriated for being critical in this way and participating extensively in religious activities in China,” the source explained.