North Korea exhibits their savagery and brutality

[progunner1957]

After reading the story below, one cannot help but conclude that the savagery and brutality of the North Korean Communist police state knows no bounds. Given the thought processes of the "leaders" of North Korea, South Korea and other neiboring nations will face a nightmare if North Korea becomes nuclear capable.

A nuclear capable psycho dictatorship is something the rest of the world can definitely live without.


Christian Survives Horror of North Korean Prison

A Christian missionary jailed in North Korea has done what many prisoners in the communist state never do - he has emerged alive to tell about his horrific experience. The testimony of a Korean-Chinese man referred to only as "Lee" to protect his identity recently was obtained by the Voice of the Martyrs.

The missionary says a woman in his Chinese church gave him an ID number to use in traveling to North Korea, saying it belonged to her cousin. When authorities saw the ID number, they immediately arrested Lee, who later discovered the woman was a North Korean spy. He had been set up.

Wrote Lee of his prison experience: "Between March 5 and 19, I was interrogated daily. Because of the beatings I began to have severe pains in my liver and kidney. My whole body shook uncontrollably. When I tried to stand, I collapsed on the floor.

Why torture a man for weeks on end? Stated Lee: "My No. 1 crime against the People's Republic of Korea is that for the past eight years I have been spreading the gospel in North Korea and bringing people to Christ." Lee said he also was accused of partnering with American spies.

Lee says his heroes are those Christians who have endured hardship, torture and the loss of their lives - but who never denounced their faith: "They truly live and die for the Gospel, and they are my heroes. Though their lives were short, what they've done will forever shine with Christ."

[Ingram]

:barf: :barf: :barf:

[mete]

So ? they haven't changed in 50 years !!!

[Wynterbourne]

Excuse me for a moment, but I need to put on my flame-retardant suit. I have a feeling that I’m about to be roasted.

I want to preface this by saying that I do not, in ANY way shape or form, condone what the government of North Korea did to this brave man. The human rights violations of North Korea have been well documented over the years. No man deserves to be treated in such a fashion except under the most dire of circumstances.

I will also state that North Korea is one of the most dangerous, most vile, most oppressed nations on our planet. I don't think too many people would be particularly upset if Democracy took a slight left turn, stopped in Seoul for gas, and went on a 'sightseeing tour' that started at Kaesong, took a leisurely stroll through P'yongyang, and stopped at the beach in Unggi. I hear there's some dang good surfing and fishing in the Sea of Japan.

With all that said, it was his own damn fault.

Every major missionary organization knows that religious activities have been suppressed, oft-times violently, by the government of North Korea. Even our own State Department has this to say:

Religions: Buddhism, Shamanism, Chongdogyo, Christian; religious activities have been virtually nonexistent since 1945.

Korea's traditional religions are Buddhism and Shamanism. Christian missionaries arrived as early as the 16th century, but it was not until the 19th century that major missionary activity began. Pyongyang was a center of missionary activity, and there was a relatively large Christian population in the north before 1945. Although religious groups exist in North Korea today, the government severely restricts religious activity.

I found these on the very first results page of Dogpile after searching for ‘North Korea Religious Persecution’:

http://www.persecution.org/Countries/north_korea.html

http://www.state.gov/www/global/huma...orthkor99.html

http://www.cswusa.com/Countries/NorthKorea.htm

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBu...20020502a.html

http://in.news.yahoo.com/040625/137/2emco.html

http://www.illusionfree.com/weblog/i...6_nk_religion/

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articl...2/ai_111501355

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/04/3...dom/index.html

http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/Bib...ion_030212.asp

Each one says essentially the same thing, “Come here and preach, and ‘Bad Things’ will happen.” He went, 'Bad Things' happened. Is it horrific? Most definitely. Is it right? Most definitely not. Should he have known it would have happened? He most definitely should.

[Marko Kloos]

I concur with Wynterbourne. He knew that proselytizing was illegal in NK, he knew the consequences, he made use of an illegal ID to travel to a country that did not want him there, and he got busted. Boo-hoo.

"Voice of the Martyrs".

[BTR]

Someone committing evil actions (torturing others for religious reasons) bears the responsibility for their own behavior... blaming the victim is pretty strange.

[RWK]

Marko and Wynter,

Gentlemen, your point is understood and reasonable. However, I do not believe that we should condone appallingly brutal barbarities, even when they have the “camouflage of law” and especially when those statutes are issued by a dictatorial, totalitarian, and maniacal regimen that is viewed worldwide as wholly deplorable and unacceptable.

With respects and regards -- Roy

[Wynterbourne]

Someone committing evil actions (torturing others for religious reasons) bears the responsibility for their own behavior... blaming the victim is pretty strange.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not placing the entirety of the blame at the feet of the missionary. However, he most certainly shares some of the burden. Look at the facts:

1 - He entered the country illegally.
2 - He did so with the intent of breaking the law.
3 - He attempted to purchase a fraudulent identification card to facilitate breaking the law.

IIRC, aren't 2 of those Capital Offenses in in North Korea?

Look at it this way. And yes, before I even say it, I know it's going to be a bit of a stretch. But follow along.

Kid A decides he's going to start swinging his arms in a circle. He tells everyone that he's going to start swinging his arms in a circle, and that if you walk into his arms you're going to get hit. He starts swinging his arms in a circle and actually developes a history of hitting people who walk into the range of his arms. It doesn't really matter who they are, what color they are, or what their system of belief is. If they walk in, they get hit.

Kid B looks at Kid A and decides, "I don't think it's right that Kid A is swinging his arms like that. I'm going to walk in there and try to stop him." So Kid B walks into Kid A's spinning arms and gets hit, badly, breaking his nose.

So, who's at fault? Kid A told everyone he was going to do it, actually did it, and did it a lot. Kid B didn't like it, got upset about it, and walked into it.

The answer is: Both of them.

Yes, it's downright evil that North Korea is doing this. North Korea isn't just doing it to Christians, they're doing it to Buddhists, Muslems, Shaman, and Catholics. It is abomination, and it most DEFINITELY should be stopped.

But he knew what could, and in all likelihood would, happen if he went there. He chose to break at LEAST 3 laws to do so. In doing so, he got caught. He took the risk, and in taking said risk accepted responsibility for his situation.

Gentlemen, your point is understood and reasonable. However, I do not believe that we should condone appallingly brutal barbarities, even when they have the “camouflage of law” and especially when those statutes are issued by a dictatorial, totalitarian, and maniacal regimen that is viewed worldwide as wholly deplorable and unacceptable.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I in no way condone the actions that they took. They were absolutely deplorable, horrific, and lacking in even the most basic sense of humanity. It was a purely barbaric violation of his most basic human rights.

But knowing that it could happen if he went there, and choosing to go there, lays a somewhat hefty percentage of the blame at his feet.

It does not make the laws in place any less unjust, any less evil, or any more acceptible. His decision to do this does not, in any way, justify what was done to him. It was evil, there's no other word for it.

The fact remains though. If he hadn't decided to go there, it wouldn't have happened to him.

[Ingram]

*swings arms and walks toward all who post after me*

fear me!

[Long Path]

Wynterbourne puts it neatly.

There's a similar (but on smaller scale) trend here in the U.S. Modern activists will do sit-ins and close down the business that they're opposed to on strict moral grounds, claiming to be invoking the spirit of Ghandi and MLK and the freedom riders of the '50s and '60s. All well and good. They get arrested, as expected. Okay. Then they scream and holler that it's not fair, and plead not guilty. Hunh?!? We seem to have forgotten that sometimes politcal statements involve accepting the sacrifice. To simply break the law and then say,"No! King's X! It was a political statement!" and then expect to go scott free is unrealistic, and demeans what those in the past have done.

[stevelyn]

North Korea is a snake pit. If you decide to jump into that snake pit regardless of how noble your intentions, are you are going to get bit.

Sounds like he barely escaped Darwin's grasp.