{"id":3963,"date":"2018-11-16T16:43:16","date_gmt":"2018-11-16T07:43:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.01.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/?p=3963"},"modified":"2021-06-01T10:53:28","modified_gmt":"2021-06-01T01:53:28","slug":"visit-by-the-pope-bring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/2018\/11\/society-economy\/visit-by-the-pope-bring\/","title":{"rendered":"\uff1cInside N. Korea\uff1e Would a visit by the Pope bring freedom of religion to North Korea, a country where even fortune-telling is illegal?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As social unrest continues, fortune-telling becomes more prevalent. (ASIAPRESS)<\/p><\/div>\n

In early October, an unusual public event took place in Hyesan, North Korea. At nine o'clock in the morning, seven fortune tellers were brought before hundreds of mobilized local residents in a stadium.<\/p>\n

A reporting partner, mobilized as a spectator at this rally, told us the following:<\/p>\n

\"The special event was called a \"crowd exposure rally\u201d. Of the fortune tellers on stage, there were one man and 6 women, with one in their 30s and the rest in their old age. After a police official denounced them for committing superstitious acts, they were handcuffed and dragged away. It was scary.\u201d
\n\uff1cInside N. Korea\uff1e Hundreds mobilize in Hyesan to rally against fortune-telling and drug use<\/a><\/p>\n

\u25c6 Shamanism disappearing as fortune-telling is regarded as a crime<\/h2>\n

In North Korea, fortune-telling is considered an act of superstition and, therefore, a crime. Those who receive money for superstitious practices can be sentenced to forced labor for up to a year. In extreme cases, a convicted fortune-teller can be sentenced to forced labor for anywhere between 3 and 7 years. (Revised Criminal Code Act, 2015)<\/p>\n

Religion has been suppressed in many socialist countries, including the Soviet Union, but, in the case of North Korea, suppression was altogether different. According to many defectors' testimony, in the late 1960s, shamanism was all but eradicated, with the religious practices of Buddhists and Christians also suppressed. To replace these ideologies, the regime prescribed the thoughts of Kim Il-sung as the monolithic ideology for the whole country.<\/p>\n

In the late 1990s, however, \"superstitious\" activities were revived across the country as North Korean society looked for a way of dealing with the anxiety caused by the famine. During this time, a tremendous number of people were displaced across the country and in search of food. Fleeing the famine, more than one million North Koreans crossed the border into China.<\/p>\n

The regime, meanwhile, abandoned its responsibility to protect the people. Every day, hungry people collapsed in the street, their bodies simply left there. Fraud, robbery, and murder went unpunished. The police, public institutions and the \"People's Party\" could not be relied upon. Nothing could be believed in or depended upon, causing anxiety and distrust to become societal norms. It was at this point, that the North Korean people began believing in fortune-telling once more.
\n[Video Report] Kotchebi Girls, Sexually Abused and Exploited<\/a>
\nNext page: \u25c6 Will the Pope go to Pyongyang?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Young siblings wandering the streets. Says one to the photographer, 'My mother is dead'. Photographed by An Chul in Wonsan City, Kangwon Province in October, 1998, when society was most in turmoil. (ASIAPRESS)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u25c6 Will the Pope go to Pyongyang?<\/h2>\n

When South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited the Vatican on October 18 to meet with Pope Francis, he brought with him a request from Pyongyang. President Moon revealed that, at the inter-Korean summit in September, Kim Jong-un had asked for him to request a mass by the Pope in Pyongyang. The goal of the visit would be to help bring the North into the international community and to expand international awareness of inter-Korean peace efforts through the Pope's involvement.<\/p>\n

In North Korea, freedom of religion is specified in the country\u2019s constitution but, in reality, all faith-based activities are considered political crimes. Christian churches and Buddhist temples do exist, but they are only maintained by the Workers Party in order to create a facade of religious life in North Korea. The reality is that the country is the most religiously oppressive country in the world. This is, of course, known to the Vatican but, were Pope Francis to go to North Korea, it would represent an opportunity for the world to demand for Kim Jong-un to stop his regime\u2019s policy of repression. It is understand that, given this opportunity, the Pope will seek a mass in Pyongyang.<\/p>\n

Still, it must be kept in mind that Kim Jong-un\u2019s motivation for inviting the Pope is to create an image of a normal nation in the eyes of the international community. In addition, the regime would be sure to tightly control any information regarding a mass in Pyongyang in order to block any potential impact domestically.<\/p>\n

As when President Moon was welcomed in Pyongyang with a massive parade, if a mass were to go ahead, hundreds of thousands of people would be mobilized for the Pope\u2019s welcome and emotional meetings would be produced with \u2018devout believers\u2019 hand-picked by the authorities. The mass would be broadcast on TV but, more likely than not, would be highly edited.<\/p>\n

\u25c6 The regime does not even allow fortune-telling- will it guarantee freedom of religion?<\/h2>\n

The North Korean Supreme Court under Kim Jong-un\u2019s rule is neither bound by the constitution nor by the code of the Workers Party. Instead, it is governed by the \u201cTen Principles of Establishing the Party's Monolithic Ideology\u201d. Here, it is stated that the entire nation and society must obey, with absolute loyalty, the perpetual reign of the Kim clan. It would be a violation of this code and a political crime to worship anyone other than Kim Jong-un, including God or Buddha.<\/p>\n

The Kim Jong-un regime, which does not even allow fortune-telling, is not likely to ever protect the freedom of religion. If Pope Francis is to visit, he has a lot of convincing to do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In early October, an unusual public event took place in Hyesan, North Korea. At nine o'clock in the morning, seven fortu\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3964,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3963"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}