Pyungkang Cheil Presbyterian Church in Seoul, South Korea.
South Korea's large Christian community is divided over how to help people in the North. A majority support efforts to send computers, cell phones and food clandestinely to the North. About 15 percent have pro-North Korean beliefs and favor dialogue with the government there.
|
|
STEVE INSKEEP, host:
You know, we've heard plenty of stories about foreigners who were arrested going into North Korea. This story we have next is a little different. It's the story of a Presbyterian pastor who went into North Korea and did fine. And then when he left, he was arrested when he returned to South Korea. Prosecutors are expected to charge the 60-year-old man with violating South Korea's national security law.
His unauthorized visited to the North reflects a division among Christians in the South, over how to help the people of North Korea.
From Seoul, Doualy Xaykaothao reports.
(Soundbite of song)
DOUALY XAYKAOTHAO: On the second floor of what looks like a wedding hall, this Christian band is rehearsing just before a prayer meeting for North Korea. The location and name of the church are being kept secret, because members in this group are involved in what could be deemed illegal activities.
This woman won't give her name, but she explains why she attends the gathering.
Unidentified Woman: (Through translator) We are praying for North Korean refugees and the people imprisoned in North Korea. We want that God will recover them, help them, and change North Korea.
XAYKAOTHAO: She's considered a conservative Christian because she is critical of North Korea, and favors underground operations to help rescue North Korean refugees. An organizer of this prayer meeting agrees to tell us more about helping North Koreans, but only if we use a false name, Ms. Lee. She hesitates, but then explains one of the group's missions.
Ms. LEE: (Through translator) We are sending the computer, as well as the cell phones, and in that way North Korean people can contact the outsiders, especially on the border side, so that they can meet the missionaries and other people from outside.
XAYKAOTHAO: Before the communist takeover, North Korea had a thriving protestant Christian community, and missionaries called Pyongyang the Jerusalem of the East. Today, only a handful of churches exist. Ms. Lee says they are not real Christian churches, and the North, she adds, is only using them as propaganda.
Click here to continue reading.
SOURCE: NPR
Doualy Xaykaothao
