USCIRF Delegation Travels to South Korea to Investigate Religious Freedom in North Korea

Washington, DC – A delegation of Commissioners and staff from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recently traveled to Seoul, Republic of Korea (South Korea) to hold meetings about religious freedom conditions in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea).

“We are grateful for the opportunity to meet with South Korean officials, human rights activists, religious leaders, and North Korean defectors working to promote religious freedom and related human rights in North Korea,” said USCIRF Chair Stephen Schneck. “The work of South Korean civil society organizations to document gross atrocities committed by the North Korean regime is invaluable. The world cannot turn a blind eye to the suffering of the North Korean people.”

Religious freedom remains virtually nonexistent in North Korea. North Korea’s ruling ideology, known as Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism, treats religion as an existential threat, resulting in severe punishment for religious adherents. The North Korean government views Christians as “counter-revolutionaries” and “traitors.” Possessing a Bible, engaging in Christian religious activities, or simply being a Christian could lead to torture, forced labor, imprisonment, and execution. In recent years, the government has also ramped up its crackdown on “superstitious activities” such as shamanism and fortune telling. Information on religious freedom conditions for practitioners of other religious traditions in North Korea—such as Buddhism, Catholicism, and Chondoism—remains severely limited. Practitioners can be subjected to administrative penalties, forced labor, imprisonment, and execution. The government of China continues to cooperate with the North Korean government to repatriate North Korean refugees in China, including those who have engaged in religious activities or come in contact with Christian missionaries, despite the risk of torture or other severe punishments upon return.

“The U.S. government has a vital role to play to ensure that religious freedom remains a top concern amid the terrible treatment of basic human rights in North Korea,” said USCIRF Vice Chair Eric Ueland. “Reducing nuclear proliferation and protecting religious freedom and other human rights are not mutually exclusive goals. The United States must push on both fronts when engaging with the Kim regime to achieve real peace and security for the region and the people of North Korea.”

Since 2000 and most recently in its 2024 Annual Report, USCIRF has recommended that the U.S. Department of State designate North Korea as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, for engaging in or tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom. In recent years, USCIRF has published two major reports on religious freedom conditions in North Korea: Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism and the Right to Freedom of Religion, Thought, and Conscience in North Korea and Organized Persecution: Documenting Religious Freedom Violations in North Korea.

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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].