US State Department Says North Korea Continues to Seriously Restrict Religious Freedom

The US State Department said that North Korea will continue to severely limit religious freedom and other basic human rights in 2021. In a 2021 national report on international religious freedom released on Thursday, the Department claimed that as many as 70,000 North Koreans could be imprisoned for their religious beliefs.

The State Department designated North Korea as a  religious freedom violator in November for the 20th year in a row. The country is one of only 10 countries designated as a "country of particular concern" in 2020.

Citing a report by Open Doors USA, a US-based NGO, the department said  North Korea is holding "50,000 to 70,000 citizens in prison for being Christians".

The report further notes that North Korea has five state-controlled Christian churches in Pyongyang, but that access to these facilities for genuine religious activity, especially by ordinary people, is "limited". 

The North Korean authorities have even arrested people who "they believe linger too long outside these churches to listen to music or repeatedly pass by them every week during services, on suspicion of being followers of the church or following Christianity secretly."