NK religious freedom addressed for first time at Taiwan International Religious Freedom Summit

Posted on September 19, 2023 by Pastor Foley

It remains illegal to get a Bible in any form into North Korea from any neighboring country, yet more North Koreans may be reading the Bible today than at any other time in history. Those were the remarks of Pastor Eric Foley, CEO of Voice of the Martyrs Korea, at last week’s Taiwan International Religious Freedom Summit (TIRF). The event was attended by more than 200 NGO leaders and government officials, including Taiwan’s Vice President Lai Ching-Te, President of the Legislative Assembly You Si-Kun, former US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback, and members of parliament from Japan, Europe, Nigeria, and South and Southeast Asia.

Voice of the Martyrs Korea CEO Pastor Eric Foley addresses attendees at the Taiwan International Religious Freedom Summit

The event was the third-ever Taiwan International Religious Freedom Summit, organized by the International Religious Freedom Secretariat, the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, and US NGO China Aid. It was the first time North Korean religious freedom was included in the agenda, with organizers selecting Pastor Foley to give the address. Pastor Foley was also asked to pray for persecuted believers at Taiwan’s National Prayer Breakfast, held concurrently.

Former Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback told attendees that those in the Grand Hotel in Taipei were some of the premier global leaders for religious freedom.

According to Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr Hyun Sook Foley, who was also publicly welcomed at the event, Ambassador Brownback also expressed in personal remarks to Voice of the Martyrs Korea that he had recently visited Korea to promote the idea of Korea hosting its own International Religious Freedom Summit in coordination with the International Religious Freedom Secretariat. “The ambassador said that progress toward a Korean summit has so far been slow,” says Representative Foley. “He noted that the religious freedom summits exist for the purpose of bringing together the people in a country from all the different religions to jointly promote religious freedom, but that that kind of inter-faith cooperation generally takes time to develop in a country.”

Pastor Eric Foley and Dr. Hyun Sook Foley with Former US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback.

Pastor Eric Foley’s address at the event followed a panel discussion trans-national repression of religious freedom, the growing trend of governments to cooperate across national borders to restrict freedom of religion or belief. Pastor Foley described the restriction of the religious freedom of North Koreans by North Korea and its neighbor countries as “Exhibit A” of the trend.

“In North Korea’s 2014 response to the United Nations Human Rights Council, it claimed that missionaries serving North Koreans in Northeast China were committing ‘terrorist acts’,” said Pastor Foley in his speech. “Then two years later a team of North Korean operatives killed our Voice of the Martyrs Korea team member and Korean Chinese citizen Pastor Han Chung Ryeol in Changbai, China for his gospel and humanitarian aid ministry to North Koreans who were going back and forth across the North Korea/Chinese border. The killers were never pursued or brought to justice. Today, even the smallest efforts by Chinese churches to meet the religious or humanitarian needs of North Koreans continue to be punished more and more harshly by the Chinese government as criminal offenses.”

In his speech, Pastor Foley noted that it remains illegal to get a Bible in any form into North Korea from any neighboring country. Still, he said that Voice of the Martyrs Korea continues to work with underground North Korean Christians to get Bibles into North Korea, with requests from North Koreans for Bibles doubling each year during the pandemic.

Pastor Eric Foley leads prayer for persecuted Christians at the Taiwan National Prayer Breakfast, held concurrently with the Taiwan International Religious Freedom Summit

“The North Korean Human Rights Database, an independent data-gathering NGO, did a study where they found that in the year 2000, effectively 0% of people inside North Korea had ever seen a Bible with their own eyes,” said Pastor Foley in his speech. “They have continued to update that study, and at the end of 2020 they determined that around 8% of people inside of North Korea have now seen a Bible with their own eyes.”

Pastor Foley cautioned attendees that defenders of religious freedom often have too little understanding of how religion is practiced in a country. “By best estimates there are 100,000 Christians inside North Korea,” said Representative Foley in his speech. “How do they express their faith? How do they live their Christian life? Defenders of religious freedom need to understand that North Korean Christians are not simply waiting around to be persecuted. They are living faithful Christian lives daily.”

Pastor Foley noted that the most common religious activity among North Korean Christians—listening to Christian programs on the radio—has not been mentioned in most international religious freedom reports. “When North Korean underground Christians were under lockdown in North Korea, they asked us to add radio broadcasts in the daytime,” said Foley. “We have been broadcasting three times every night, but at their request we added two broadcasts every daytime.” He added that the increased attempts by the North Korean government to jam Christian broadcasts should be noted as restrictions on religious freedom.

Pastor Foley prefaced his prayer for persecuted believers at the Taiwan National Prayer Breakfast by underscoring the importance of asking persecuted believers how they want to be prayed for. “We should not pray for them to become like us,” said Pastor Foley. “We should not pray for them the way we think they should be prayed for. Instead, we should ask them how they want us to pray.” He then led the attendees in praying for the ten specific prayers requested most often by persecuted Christians with which Voice of the Martyrs Korea partners.

Individuals interested in learning more about Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s North Korean ministry can visit https://vomkorea.com/en/northkorea.

Pastor Eric Foley addresses attendees at the Taiwan International Religious Freedom Summit
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Tourists return to Maldives despite grim restrictions on Christian activity

Posted on September 5, 2023 by Pastor Foley

One of the most desirable vacation spots is also one of the world’s worst persecutors of Christians. That’s the word about the Maldives from Voice of the Martyrs Korea, whose two-year old daily Christian radio broadcast into the Maldives is one of the few successful outreaches into the country known for tourism but less known for its comprehensive ban on Christian activity.

“Neither mission work nor Christian literature has ever been allowed in the Maldives,” says Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr Hyun Sook Foley. “Even foreign workers who are Christians are closely watched, which makes church life extremely difficult and practically nonexistent. Churches are outlawed, and openly carrying the Bible is illegal. The country is so tightly controlled by Islamic law that there is not even a Bible fully translated into the native language of most citizens of the Maldives.”

Representative Foley say a host of laws are designed to ensure that only Islamic principles are taught within the country.

“In order to deliver a sermon or a religious talk, one must obtain a license from the Ministry of Islamic Affairs (MIA),” says Representative Foley. “Only a Sunni Muslim with a degree in religious studies from a government recognized university may apply for a license.”

According to Representative Foley, separate laws prohibit the distribution of Christian literature. Violations may result in a prison sentence of 2 to 5 years.

But despite these grim restrictions, tourism in the Maldives returned to near pre-COVID levels in 2022, with 1.6 million people visiting the so-called “resort islands” that the Maldives specially designates for tourists.

“The world chooses to enjoy the extravagant luxeries of the Maldives while ignoring the human rights and religious liberty abuses happening there,” says Representative Foley. She says that even governments do the same, noting that the United States and Australia entered into diplomatic relationship with the Maldives in 2022. “Sadly, many Christians also forget their brothers and sisters in the Maldives who have suffered under the hand of the government and Islamic extremists,” says Representative Foley.

According to Representative Foley life for the average Maldivian is markedly different than life as a tourist at a resort.

“An obvious example of this is that tourists are often greeted with a bottle of wine, where citizens are prohibited from drinking alcohol and threatened with fines and flogging for doing so,” says Representative Foley. She says Christians considering tourism to the Maldives should take time to research more than which hotel to stay at.

Voice of the Martyrs Korea CEO Pastor Eric Foley records a daily radio broadcast to the Maldives.

“Here is the real state of the Maldives,” says Representative Foley. “According to reports, the Maldives exports more jihadists per capita to fight in conflicts in countries like Syria than any other country in the world. Internet sites that according to the government ‘spread religion other than Islam’ are blocked, including Youtube and Facebook. Criticism of Muhammed is criminalized. Openly expressing religious beliefs other than Islam is criminalized. Worshipping in a church is criminalized, even for foreigners.”

But Representative Foley says Voice of the Martyrs Korea has not forgotten the small handful of Maldivians who live secretly as Christians, having converted either as a result of hearing the Christian message during time spent abroad or through interaction with Christian foreigners who visit the Maldives.

“Our ‘True Voice of Martyrs’ Maldives radio broadcast is a way to let the Maldivian church know every day that they are not forgotten,” says Representative Foley. “It is the safest possible way to give them the tools they need to grow as Christians—Bible readings, sermons, encouragement from other persecuted Christians around the world. All they need to do is tune in on the radio.”

Representative Foley says that the broadcast signal has thus far evaded jamming by state level actors while remaining easy for any Maldivian to access. She says her organization has also received contact from listeners to the broadcast in India, Philippines, Morocco, Japan, China, Germany, Australia, Austria, and the United States. “The broadcast includes segments in both Dhiveli, the official language of the Maldives, and English, which is more and more the language of the young in the Maldives,” she says. “The strong signal makes it possible for us to reach even Maldivians studying abroad in places like India and Sri Lanka.”

Representative Foley notes that as much as 25% of the Maldivian population has regularly listened to popular shortwave broadcasts in recent years.

Representative Foley says that her hope is that Christians who are thinking of traveling to the Maldives would instead use their funds to support the Voice of the Martyrs Korea radio broadcast and then stay home and pray for Maldivian Christians.

“Pray daily for the underground church in the Maldives,” says Representative Foley. “Pray that they would continue to trust fully in the Word of God despite the difficult circumstances. And pray daily for the True Voice of Martyrs broadcast to the Maldives to remain clear and strong. Pray that any efforts by the government to stop the broadcast will only further the proclamation of the gospel, and pray that many new listeners will discover the broadcast and its message of salvation in Christ alone.”

Those interested in donating to support Voice of the Martyrs’ daily radio broadcast to the Maldives can do so at www.vomkorea.com/en/donation or via electronic transfer to:

국민은행 (KB Bank) 463501-01-243303

예금주 (Account Holder): (사)순교자의소리

Please include the word “Maldives” with the donation.

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Laos: As China’s influence looms, VOMK workers quietly fulfill 2,100 individual requests for Bibles

Posted on August 22, 2023 by Pastor Foley

Discrete, personal deliveries of Bibles to Laos Christians have replaced large scale Bible distribution campaigns, due to growing Chinese influence on the Laos government’s religious enforcement policies.

That’s what we’ve learned at Voice of the Martyrs Korea as we’ve been working with local Christian workers in Laos recently to quietly fulfill individual requests for Bibles from 500 church leaders and 1,600 church members in that communist country. 660 requests for hymnals were also fulfilled.

“Laos not only shares a border with China. It shares a communist ideology, and that includes strong restrictions on religion,” says Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr Hyun Sook Foley. She points to the July 28 arrest in Laos of Chinese human rights attorney Lu Siwei as he was on his way to the United States as a sign of China’s influence on the Laos government. “We should not be surprised to see Laos adopt China-style religious restrictions to attempt to control its rapidly-growing Christian population,” she says.

“In 1994 there were 400 Christians in Laos, but by 2020 there were over 250,000, and by the end of 2023, Lao Christians believe there will be over 400,000,” says Representative Foley. She says that sharp increase has led to challenges for the Lao Christian community.

A Lao believer is thrilled to receive a new Bible.

“Persecution and restrictions are the main external challenges,” says Representative Foley. “Most persecution of Christians in Laos is done by family members or village authorities who are concerned that Christianity offends the spirits.”

But Representative Foley notes that it is not only the spirits who villagers worry about offending. Lao government authorities also watch the growth of unregistered Christian congregations with concern.

“Similar to China, there is a clear expectation and growing pressure by the government for all churches to officially register their existence and fully comply with all religious regulations,” she says. Those regulations also govern access to Bibles. “Bibles are not sold in bookstores in Laos,” she says. “The registered churches sell Bibles, and some foreign groups have sought legal permission to bring Bibles in for mass distributions.”

But according to Representative Foley, buying a Bible from a registered church or receiving a Bible from a government-permitted distribution can expose church leaders and local believers to pressure from their fellow villagers or from government authorities. “Public acquisition of a Bible can be like a trail leading suspicious villagers or government authorities right to the door of an unregistered pastor or believer,” says Representative Foley.

In 1994 there were 400 Christians in Laos, but by 2020 there were over 250,000, and by the end of 2023, Lao Christians believe there will be over 400,000.

She says this is why Voice of the Martyrs Korea has been partnering with local Christian workers to enable Lao church leaders and individual believers to request Bibles privately. Voice of the Martyrs Korea recently received requests from 500 church leaders and 1,600 church members in Laos, along with requests for 660 hymnals. “By quietly providing individual Bibles to the Christians who requested them, we have been able to meet the need while keeping identities confidential and thus keeping Christians safe,” she says.

Representative Foley notes that due to the massive growth of Christianity in Laos, the majority of congregations do not have a trained pastor. “Most pastors have little schooling, and many do not have Bibles,” says Representative Foley. “The church leader is typically the oldest or wealthiest person in the community. In most villages, no church buildings are allowed. If village leaders notice that a house church is growing, they will try to stop it. Christians have difficulty providing for themselves and their family. They may be unable to get jobs, most of which are through the government. Christians may be denied medical treatment, education and other social services. There are no open Bible schools in the country.” Representative Foley says that the Lao Evangelical Church (LEC) is the only government-recognized church.

But Representative Foley says Voice of the Martyrs Korea believes that the best way to address the challenges facing the growing Lao Christian community is privately and quietly, through fulfilling individual requests for Bibles, rather than through large-scale efforts that require centralized coordination with the official church’s structures, as well as government permission.

“Early Korean Christian history shows the power of individual Bible distribution,” says Representative Foley. “15,000 copies of the Ross Bible were secretly distributed hand-to-hand before the first missionaries arrived, even with the government actively trying to stop the spread of the faith.”

Most Lao pastors have little schooling, and many do not have Bibles.

She says that just as the Lao government often follows the Chinese government’s religious policies, the Lao church can learn from the Chinese underground church.

“The Chinese government has been able to confiscate the buildings of Chinese megachurches, drive all Bible purchases to official channels, and cut off the large-scale initiatives of American and Korean missionaries seeking to help the Chinese church,” she says. “But it has been much harder for the Chinese government to stop the house-to-house spread of Christianity in the countryside. For the past several years that has been our focus in China: privately supplying Bibles and Bible study materials to individual believers who request them. That approach the Chinese government still can’t stop. The time has come for us to take the same approach in Laos.”

Representative Foley says Voice of the Martyrs Korea is now working on a plan to quietly get audio Bibles to Lao believers who request them. “There are many Lao Christians who are unable to read or write, especially in the countryside,” she says. “Local workers are compiling a growing list of believers who want to receive those audio Bibles, and we will be working to fulfill those requests in the coming months.”

Individuals interested in learning more about Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s work in partnership with Laotian Christians can visit https://vomkorea.com/en/country-profile/laos/. Donations can be made to www.vomkorea.com/en/donate or via electronic transfer to

국민은행 463501-01-243303

예금주: (사)순교자의소리

Please include the word “Laos” on the donation.

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