Stories tagged with: north korea

• 'Jesus' erased from N. Korea, Bae says at ERLC event

  by Tom Strode, posted Friday, July 19, 2019 (5 years ago)

  

  Photo by Anna Meyer

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- North Korea's decades-long attempt to eliminate Christianity has practically erased any knowledge of Jesus for citizens, attendees were told Thursday (July 18) at a Capitol Hill event sponsored by the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. Read More

• ERLC video on N. Korea: Churches meet despite risks

  by Tom Strode, posted Friday, July 19, 2019 (5 years ago)

  

  Screen capture from ERLC video

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- North Korean followers of Jesus continue to worship in underground churches despite the totalitarian regime's ongoing effort to eradicate Christianity, according to a new documentary film produced by the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

  The ERLC premiered the 10-minute video -- "Humanity Denied: Religious Freedom in North Korea" -- during a July 18 Capitol Hill discussion regarding conditions in the Asian country. The Southern Baptist entity hosted the conversation at a U.S. Senate office building as a side event on the third and final day of the State Department's second Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom in Washington, D.C. Read More

• North Korea prisoners' release spurs hope for revival

  by Diana Chandler, posted Thursday, May 10, 2018 (6 years ago)

  

  Screen capture from the New York Times

  North Korea released Christians, from left, Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim. CNN screengrabWASHINGTON (BP) -- The release of three American Christians from North Korea is hopefully an early sign of Christian revival in the Asian nation, Southern Baptist consultant and native Korean Paul Kim told Baptist Press.

  "It's bigger than just releasing the three individuals," said Kim, Asian American relations consultant to the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee. "It's much, much bigger, (which) history will tell later. I think there will be very exciting things happening."

  He anticipates change from a more spiritual than political trajectory. Read More

• Korea summit: historic, but human rights talk 'absent'

  by David Roach, posted Friday, April 27, 2018 (6 years ago)

  

  Screen capture from The Washington Post

  PANMUNJOM, South Korea (BP) -- A historic meeting today (April 27) between the leaders of North and South Korea left religious liberty advocates optimistic about peace on the Korean Peninsula but pessimistic about the advance of human rights in the North.

  Paul Kim, Asian American advisor to the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, said the prospect of peace between the two Koreas is "like a dream" and what many South Koreans have prayed for daily through several decades -- though human rights violations in North Korea continue to be a ... Read More

• N. Korea missile launch leads Japan churches to pray

  by David Roach, posted Wednesday, August 30, 2017 (7 years ago)

  

  Screen capture from CNN

  TOKYO (BP) -- Following a North Korean missile launch that triggered emergency sirens in Japan and government warnings to seek cover, Baptists in Japan are expressing trust in God and asking fellow believers for prayer.

  "Every person I have spoken with has told me how they are praying for the situation here in this area of the world," said Ben Howard, an associate pastor at Yokohama International Baptist Church, a 200-member congregation in Japan's second largest city. "Prayers are becoming very specific. Several are praying that God will hold North Korea back and not let them be aggressive. Read More

• North Korea nuclear escalation spurs call to prayer

  by David Roach, posted Wednesday, August 09, 2017 (7 years ago)

  

  Screen capture from CNN

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- Amid escalating tension with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program, evangelicals are calling for prayer and advocating wise use of America's diplomatic and military capabilities.

  "It appears that the time for a diplomatic solution to curb North Korea's increasing acts of aggression is quickly running out," said former U.S. Army chief of chaplains Douglas Carver. "Now is the time for Southern Baptists to pray for the commander in chief and his cabinet members, our congressional leaders and members of the armed services who may be required to make grave and costly decisions in the near future." Read More

• Christian persecution increases; N. Korea still No. 1

  by Tom Strode, posted Thursday, January 12, 2017 (7 years ago)

  

  Image: iStock/License purchase required

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- North Korea ranks as the most dangerous country for Christians for the 16th consecutive time after a year in which the persecution of followers of Jesus continued to rise, according to a new report.

  Release of the annual World Watch List from Open Doors USA came as religious freedom advocates call for President-elect Trump to act in the first 100 days of his administration to protect Christians and other people of faith overseas. Read More

• N. Korea tops persecution list for 14th year

  by Staff/Baptist Press, posted Tuesday, January 19, 2016 (8 years ago)

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- As North Korea once again held its spot for the 14th consecutive year as the most dangerous country for Christians, religious persecution on every continent has appeared to increase, according to a new report. Read More

• Corker stands with SBC on North Korea

  by David Roach, posted Tuesday, September 15, 2015 (9 years ago)

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee has expressed his agreement with a Southern Baptist Convention resolution's condemnation of "religious persecution and human rights violations in North Korea."

  Sen. Bob Corker, R.-Tenn., also said he is working to "highlight the deplorable human rights situation of the North Korean people." Read More

• North Korea pressured on human rights

  by David Roach, posted Wednesday, September 09, 2015 (9 years ago)

  

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- The Southern Baptist Convention's adoption of a resolution this summer on "religious persecution and human rights violations in North Korea" has coincided with what the resolution's originator calls a renewed international challenge to the nation.

  North Korea -- named by persecution watchdog Open Doors as the world's worst persecutor of Christians for the past 13 years -- has sent thousands of Christians to its political prison camps, estimated at 50,000-70,000 by Open Doors. Read More