USCIRF Releases Report on Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism and Religious Freedom in North Korea

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released the following new report:

Freedom of Religion, Thought, and Conscience in North Korea – This report finds North Korea’s ongoing religious freedom violations are driven by highly organized efforts of the Workers’ Party of Korea to enforce an ideology known as Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism. It contributes to significant advances in understanding how and why this ideology is implemented across North Korea and presents implications for the deterrence of perpetrators and the pursuit of accountability and justice.

In 2021, USCIRF issued a report titled “Organized Persecution: Documenting Religious Freedom Violations in North Korea” which documented evidence from in-person interviews with North Korean defectors who are survivors, witnesses, and perpetrators of religious freedom violations.

In its 2022 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State designate North Korea as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for its ongoing, systematic, and egregious religious freedom violations. 

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].