I was born in ChungJin, Ham-kyoung-buk-do, North Korea and lived there for 50 years. For God’s grace, I could leave North Korea with my son and came to South Korea in 1996. Since I was born in N.Korea and grew there, I didn’t know God. This story is about the North Korean Christians I saw in the prison camp when I sent there after severe torturing for no reason.
I graduated the Faculty of Economics in Kim-Il-Sung University so I could direct people and financial affairs as a prisoner in the camp which accommodates 6000 people. I could go any working places whenever I want. One day, the prison officer called me and trained me hard saying, “You have to go to a factory and there are full of psyches. Don’t give a sight to those people. Take a grip on yourself. Don’t ever talk to them and if you believe in the ’GOD’ they believe, you are going to die. ”
The first time i saw them in the factory, I was so shocked. They didn’t seem like HUMANS. The factory was blast furnace which was burning at the temperature of 1500℃ and when the crowd moved they looked like the crowd of beasts, or aliens that I couldn’t a human feature among them. No one had hairs, their faces looked like skulls, and they had no teeth. Their height shrieked in to 120~30cm so they looked like dwarves. I watched them closely with surprise. When they came here they were normal, but because they worked there 16~18 hours everyday without meals in that burning place, their backbone were melted and became lumps at the back. Their body were bend that their chest and belly were attached. Every one of them was ruined in that way. The prison officers came in and out at anytime for force them to work. They didn’t do just with words but also with cow hind whips. They hit them with whip even though Christians working speechlessly.
The Christians didn’t wear clothes. At first time I saw them from a distance, I thought they wear something black but as walk nearby, it were not clothes. They wore rubber apron on bare skin. The flame from the furnace splashed on their emaciated skin continually, the skin became scab and the flame splashed upon it, burned it again and again that their skin looked like beasts’ skin.
One day, I opened the door of the factory, and it was total silence. In the middle of the place there were two prison officers with several hundreds of “prisoners”(Christians), and they raved with fury, roared crazily. I was scared to death so I stood near the door. The officers kicked them, beat them say that they are lunatics who are not believing in sky (God), not Kim-Il-Sung. They said “If anyone of you come up and say that you are going to believe in Kim-Il-Sung and reject sky, then we will give you freedom and give you riches.”, and whipped them, kicked them again. And it was strange. Hundreds of Christians said nothing though officers whip them hard. I thought that if anyone says that he will believe in Kim-Il-Sung, officers stop these things and no one will die because of this. If they keep silence officers will kill one of them, then why does no one say something.
At that time, one of the officers full of anger, pulled any eight Christians and put their face on the ground. He mashed them again. Eight people soon became full of blood out of their body, and their backbones and legs were broken. The Christians gave a groan and I didn’t know what they are saying. (It was Lord, Lord, and I didn’t know who He is. Later I found out that the Lord they called when officers hit them was God. I cannot transmit the torture that Christians suffered.)
The officers brought burning rusty water out of furnace. They said “Let’s see who’s going to live. Will it be you who believe God or us who believe in Kim-Il-Sung” and poured that thing on the bloody Christians they kicked. Christians’ bones and skins were melted and they became the lumps… I’ve never seen that cruel happening before, and that scene didn’t left me for several months. Before I saw that, I thought I have to believe in Kim-Il-Sung but, after that I realized one thing-which I have to believe. I strongly realized that I have to believe in God. I prayed everyday that “If you, the one who Christians believe though they are dying, really exist, please save me. You have to punish those wicked people.” Then God really heard that prayer.
There were public execution every month, and communists gather 6000 prisoners at one place. During execution, they sat people who should be executed in the first row. Especially Kim-Il-Sung ordered that when they sat Christians who believe in “sky” (which is God,) officers force Christians to put their head between knees to not to make them see the sky. Also that day, Christians were at the first row, and there were other people behind them. When I thought ‘who is going to be executed again?’ they called my name. I was so surprised that I couldn’t answer or stand up. Officers drove me to the first row, and when I was in front of everybody, the manager of the prisoner camp told me that “you are released for grace of Kim-Il-Sung.” Right that time, the Christians at the first row looked at me as if they were promised to do that. I could feel what they are trying to say. Please tell these to the world…
I still believe that God saved me from severe prisoner camp which is known for not releasing people. I can strongly say that those Christians in North Korea are martyrs of this generation. Ladies and gentleman, thank God for having a freedom to worship God. And please pray for North Korea
From. KOSTA 2006
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