Most of the dramatic North Korean martyr stories you read in the news are simply not true. Typically, when a North Korean is caught with a Bible, the North Korean is arrested and taken to a concentration camp.

It is not dramatic. It does not make the news. And Christians around the world never hear about it.

Several years ago, Mrs. Park, a North Korean defector, told us about her husband, who was an underground North Korean Christian. He met a family in China who had told him about the “Good News of Jesus Christ”, and upon his return to North Korea he wouldn’t stop talking about God and about the Bible.

Although he knew his entire family could be severely punished for his bold faith, he shared the message of Jesus with at least 20 other people. Mrs. Park told us that at the time, she thought he was crazy.

Eventually, someone reported on his activities. One night, authorities came to the couple’s home and arrested both of them. Because of a relative she had in the State Security Police, she was only sent to a labor camp and served six years. He was immediately taken to a concentration camp and never heard from again.

Arrested. Sent to a concentration camp. Never heard from again.

This is the common way that the North Korean government deals with underground Christians. It’s not flashy and most news agencies don’t consider it newsworthy. The world will never hear about these North Korean underground Christians. They are a part of the unknown martyrs of North Korea, but they are known to God.

“I cannot deny the Bible”

Recently, we came to know about a teenage North Korean girl named Suji. She and her whole family were Christians inside of North Korea. Shortly after coming back from China to North Korea, the authorities searched their home for contraband they acquired in China. We suspect they were looking for a fishing rod, but instead they discovered a Bible.

The whole family was immediately arrested by state security agents and interrogated, but the father successfully convinced the agents that Suji and her brothers were in no way responsible for or connected to the Bible. Suji and her brothers were later released.

During the interrogation, one agent told Suji’s mother, “If you deny the Bible, we will let you go.” But she responded, “There is nothing wrong in the Bible. So, I cannot deny it.” Suji’s father and mother were never heard from again, even to this day. 

Suji’s parents were unwilling to deny the Bible. They were faithful to the very end. And just like Mrs. Park’s story, Suji’s parents were simply arrested and then never heard from again.

This is similar to another story told to us by a North Korean who is now a pastor of a North Korean defector congregation in South Korea. Pastor Lee’s father was an underground North Korean Christian and his father engaged in underground missionary work inside of North Korea, even at great risk to his own life. 

One night, when Pastor Lee was only nine years old, his father was suddenly apprehended by the North Korean authorities and taken away. He was arrested under suspicion of engaging in “subversive ideological activity”. Without any news of their father’s whereabouts, Pastor Lee and his family felt deeply afraid and helpless. They eventually received word about what had happened to their father. He was offered the chance to recant his faith and survive, but he refused and died in prison. 

The family had to continue life in NK burdened by the stigma and suspicion of being the family of a “counterrevolutionary”. Despondent, Pastor Lee initially believed that God had abandoned him and not long afterward he decided to defect and made the perilous journey to South Korea.

Despite having been initially disillusioned with Christianity due to trauma related to the loss of his father, Pastor Lee eventually returned to the faith after he came to South Korea. He later felt the call to be a pastor, and graduated from seminary, got married to another NK defector, and became the pastor of a North Korean defector congregation. 

How Can We Help?

These above stories show why the ministry of VOM Korea is so important. Each North Korean martyr leaves behind family members who are often traumatized by what happened. In some cases, the family members don’t have the same strong faith that their loved one had, so they are left confused and scared.

Not only do these family members need practical help for their daily needs, but they also need to be reminded that God has not forgotten them.

The stories of their loved ones are not widely known. These martyrs simply disappeared and were never heard from again. And now the family members are left to try to understand something that doesn’t make any sense to them.

VOM Korea directly supports the family members of North Korean Christian martyrs and prisoners by helping to provide for their daily needs. But in addition to their daily needs, VOM Korea helps the family members make sense of their own experiences and traumas, not only to lament their losses, but also to experience healing, and to be proud of their loved ones in the midst of persecution. 

In most cases, due to the requests of the family members, we do this quietly. There is no fanfare. It does not make the news. And Christians around the world never hear about it.

Their loved ones who were faithful unto death, remain unknown to the world, but they are known by God.