SINGAPORE, June 11, 2018 — Open Doors USA President David Curry, in Singapore to advocate for religious freedom in North Korea and host an online global prayer summit alongside a North Korean refugee, reacted to the news President Donald Trump does not plan to address human rights abuses when he meets Kim Jong Un:
“It would be very disappointing if President Donald Trump does not plan to call Kim Jong Un to task for his litany of human rights abuses — especially his imprisonment, torture and execution of Christians who would dare express any beliefs other than those approved by the Communist regime.
For the 17th consecutive year, North Korea is the No. 1 most dangerous place to be a Christian, according to the Open Doors World Watch List.
The people of North Korea continue to deserve our vocal, prayerful and relentless support. That’s why I’m honored to join my fellow Christian John Choi, who escaped North Korea, to host Open Doors’ online Prayer Summit for North Korea, so Christians around the world can pray about this important issue.
Join us at OpenDoorsUSA.org/Pray4NK tonight, June 11, at 9 p.m. ET to show your support for those suffering in North Korea.
Open Doors’ researchers estimate more than 300,000 Christians still live in North Korea, where they are viewed as hostile to a regime that seeks to eliminate them.
Often entire families are persecuted for the ‘crime’ of one person becoming a Christian. Some have been rounded up and exiled to concentration camps for generations — for the simple act of possessing a Bible.
Open Doors reports that there are at least 50,000 Christians confined in prison camps, and some estimates put this number as high as 120,000. The conditions are deplorable.
One Christian woman described her detention: being forced to strip down for a cavity search, then placed in solitary confinement — a room just large enough for a single person to lie down — all because of her faith in Jesus. Pregnant prisoners were forced to have abortions. After violent interrogations, prisoners in labor camps continue to face physical and emotional torment. They work 12-hour shifts and receive just a handful of food each day.
Visit OpenDoorsUSA.org/Pray4NK to learn more about why North Korea is the worst country in the world to be a Christian.”
MEDIA RESOURCE: For interviews with Curry and Choi, pending their availability, please contact Scott Knuteson, 770-813-0000.
About Open Doors USA
For more than 60 years, Open Doors USA has worked in the world’s most oppressive and restrictive countries for Christians. Open Doors works to equip and encourage Christians living in dangerous circumstances with the threat of persecution and equips the Western church to advocate for the persecuted. Christians are one of the most persecuted religious groups in the world and are oppressed in at least 60 countries. For more information, visit OpenDoorsUSA.org.
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Contact
Scott Knuteson
(770) 317-0499
