Being discovered to be a Christian in North Korea is effectively a death sentence. Either believers will be deported to labor camps as political criminals, where they face a life of hard labor which few survive, or they are killed on the spot. The same fate awaits family members. There are believed to be tens of thousands of Christians held in labor camps across the country.

It’s impossible for Christians to live freely in North Korea. Meeting for worship is almost impossible and must be done in utmost secrecy, and at grave risk. In May 2023, five members of a family were arrested as they gathered for prayer and Bible study. Christian literature was also confiscated. The group had reportedly been meeting on a weekly basis, and their arrest followed a tip-off by an informant.

The deplorable treatment of believers is driven by the authoritarian regime’s view that Christians are a particular threat to the country’s leadership and society. The "Anti-reactionary thought law" (enacted in December 2020) makes it amply clear that being a Christian or possessing a Bible is a serious crime and will be severely punished. The churches shown to visitors in Pyongyang serve mere propaganda purposes.

All Christians in North Korea are vulnerable to extreme persecution at the hands of the country’s totalitarian regime. For several years, the border region with China was considered a particular hotspot, given the constant stream of defectors, but recent moves to fortify the border have made it even harder to escape.

Christians interred in prison camps and total control zones can be seen as facing the most persecution, but it is not easy to obtain up-to-date information from these camps.