North Korea (MNN) — North Korean believers face severe restrictions that prevent them from openly sharing or practicing their faith. Yet when the Gospel is not tied to buildings, programs, or public institutions, it often becomes the central focus of people’s lives.

Korean Commons Translations Bible Anglican Edition 1999 (photo courtesy of Alvis Jean via Wikimedia Commons)

While the world faced hardship and isolation during COVID, many North Korean Christians experienced a season of growth. Eric Foley with Voice of the Martyrs Korea says officers avoided entering homes because “they worried they might get infected with COVID and spread it to the rest of the neighborhood, and then they would be held responsible.”

Christians used that opportunity to spread the Gospel more freely. Foley says, “They were home in the daytime. It meant it was possible for them to listen to illegal Christian radio broadcasts.”

Through radio, people heard the Gospel day and night. Demand for Bibles also grew. Foley says, “In North Korea, COVID is remembered as a time of great, great church growth.”

When restrictions ended, the state tightened control again. Still, Foley says:

“Holding on tightly to the message of the Gospel, which is what saves and brings eternal life, is what allowed the North Korean church to grow.”

If believers depended mainly on church buildings or worship styles, the state could weaken their faith through persecution. Foley says, “They teach us to hold on to the form of church loosely while holding on to the Gospel tightly.”

Pray the Gospel continues to sustain North Korean believers. Pray also that churches worldwide would put the Gospel above forms and traditions so they can remain strong under pressure.

Pray Voice of the Martyrs Korea can continue supporting local believers through radio broadcasts, Bible distribution, and other outreach efforts based in South Korea.

Header photo: Man reading the Bible (representative photo courtesy of RDNE Stock project via Pexels)

Eric Foley with Voice of the Martyrs Korea says, “this is a serious change that has major ramifications politically, certainly, but also with regard to ministry.”

North and South Korea at night (photo courtesy of NASA via Wikimedia Commons)

The historical context

The Korean War never officially ended because no peace treaty was signed. Both Koreas historically claimed authority over the entire peninsula in their constitutions. That allowed North Korean defectors to automatically become South Korean citizens and permitted ministries like Voice of the Martyrs Korea to conduct outreach into the North from the South.

“This division of Korea into two countries by North Korea raises the question of how South Korea will respond,” Foley explains.

If South Korea were to officially recognize North Korea as a separate nation, North Koreans could be refused entry into the South or required to complete a difficult citizenship process. Ministries might also be banned under South Korean law from doing work directed toward North Korea.

So far, South Korea has condemned the move as a major escalation because the new constitution does not clearly define North Korea’s borders but insists on the country’s right to defend them. Seoul still supports peaceful reunification but has increased security readiness.

How can it affect the ministry work?

Foley says a permanent two-state system could create serious ministry challenges: “It [might have] serious impacts on ministry, because our work at Voice of the Martyrs Korea is in support of underground North Korean Christians.”

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea E-Passport passport (photo courtesy of PRADO EU via Wikimedia Commons)

South Korea could eventually join North Korea in restricting or banning such ministry work if cooperation between the two governments increases.

The ministry also serves North Korean laborers overseas and women trafficked into China and forced into marriage. Foley says that outreach could eventually become illegal under South Korean law, not just Chinese and North Korean law.

At the moment, North Korea’s decision has not changed ministry operations. However, how the situation develops will depend on future diplomacy and South Korea’s response.

“So the change in the Constitution is really a matter of prayer for believers,” Foley says.

An estimated 100,000 underground Christians remain in North Korea. Pray Voice of the Martyrs Korea can continue supporting local believers through radio broadcasts, Bible distribution, and other outreach efforts based in South Korea.

“Pray that while it is still light, that the Lord will permit us to do the ministry that we do. We don’t take for granted any day,” Foley says.

Header photo: North Korean men reading news, Pyongyang, North Korea (photo courtesy of Random Institute via Unsplash).

What would you do if headlines claimed North Korea had nearly wiped out underground churches? Eric Foley of Voice of the Martyrs Korea urges a fact check. Recent reports made that claim, but the reality is more complex.

“We have to be really careful readers about information about North Korea,” Foley says.

A militaristic North Korea poster (photo courtesy of Mark Fahey via Wikimedia Commons)

First, because the authorities try to withhold the true facts from the outside world, especially about Christians.

“When the North Korean government carries out its policies successfully, what that means is no information about North Korean Christians leaks to the outside world,” Foley explains.

Secondly, they don’t make announcements about believers in this manner.

“They’d have to admit that they [Christians] existed, and they’d have to admit that there’s no freedom of religion in North Korea,” Foley says. And this would go against their public statements about religious freedom.

“Their goal is to eliminate any news going to the outside world indicating that Christians are facing horrible persecution in North Korea,” Foley adds.

Korean Commons Translations Bible Anglican Edition 1999 (photo courtesy of Alvis Jean via Wikimedia Commons)

Foley says the opposite of eradication is happening: churches are growing. “In North Korea, the nature of church growth and persecution continues to develop,” he says.

So what can we do?

First, pray for North Korean believers without ceasing. And second, “Let’s not rely on media to set our prayer calendar,” Foley says. Even when there’s little or outdated news, it doesn’t mean nothing is happening — it just means the facts are concealed.

Reach out to ministries or media engaged in intercession or working with the North Korean church to inform your prayers, including VOM Korea.

Header photo: Woman embroidery in North Korea (photo courtesy of David Clayton Ellsworth via Wikimedia Commons).

Eric Foley with VOM Korea explains that after decades of faithful service in Russia, 70-year-old Park was stopped on her way home to South Korea in January. She’s now in a Russian holding facility, facing alleged immigration charges that could carry an up to 17-year prison sentence. 

VOM Korea has ensured that Park has an attorney, a critical part of the process. 

“She says that while she’s reading her Bible daily, and she’s confident in the Lord, she just wants to come home,” says Foley. 

The charges against Park are a mask for Russia’s underlying issue: her missionary work among children. 

“That’s what happens in countries, whether it’s North Korea, China, Russia, or other countries. Rarely do you hear about religious charges,” Foley says. “Instead, what you get are charges like in China, the charges against pastors these days are that pastors are committing fraud. In Russia, a lot of charges these days relate to immigration.”

(Photo courtesy of VOM Korea)

Your advocacy can make a difference! But the how matters. Foley warns against two common mistakes Christians make when responding to persecution. 

“One is that they say nothing,” he says. “The other is that they speak so loudly and stridently that they demonize the government about whom they’re speaking.” 

Foley says that in VOM Korea’s decades of advocacy for Christian prisoners, “Not one of them has ever said, ‘I wish you would have been quiet when I was in prison.’ So we don’t need to yell and be human rights crusaders. We do simply need to tell the truth about what’s happening.”

Even the simple act of signing a petition shows a government that people around the world know what is happening and that they are willing to speak the truth about it. 

Pray especially for favor as VOM Korea delivers the signed petition to the Russian embassy very soon. 

“When you visit an embassy with a petition, they don’t welcome you in and serve you tea,” Foley says. 

“It’s an experience for which we really request a lot of prayer, because sometimes the gates get shut, sometimes the tables get turned, and the people who deliver the petitions end up being seen as the disturbers of the peace.”

Header photo courtesy of VOM Korea. 

That’s the update from persecution watchdog Voice of the Martyrs Korea, which has been advocating for the release of Missionary Park since her arrest on January 15, one week before she was scheduled to return home to Korea to retire at age 70. The missionary continues to be held at an immigration detention center.

According to Voice of the Martyrs Korea CEO Pastor Eric Foley, authorities have also seized Missionary Park’s house in Russia and fined the missionary for overstaying her visa, despite the overstay being due to her detainment by Russian authorities. Pastor Foley calls these actions “serious violations of the law that demand remedy by the court and the action of Christians around the world on Missionary Park’s behalf.”

(Photo courtesy VOMK)

Voice of the Martyrs Korea has posted a petition online at https://vomkorea.com/en/petition-2026 calling for Missionary Park’s immediate release.

Pastor Foley says that so far more than 3,700 people in Korea have added their names to the petition, along with 750 people from the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil, Africa, and Finland. Pastor Foley says he and Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley will deliver the petition to the Russian Embassy in Seoul once 5,000 signatures are secured.

“We need to let Russian authorities know that the world is watching to see how they will treat this 70-year old single woman who for more than 30 years said she was ‘married to Russia’, serving Russian people—especially children—with her whole heart, with not even a single complaint against her during that time,” says Pastor Foley. He says that more than a dozen people in Russia and Korea have stepped forward to provide official character references to submit to the court on Missionary Park’s behalf.

Pastor Foley says that the three charges against Missionary Park are all immigration-related and deal with assistance Missionary Park allegedly provided to Koreans to enter Russia. Two of the charges carry maximum 5-year sentences, and the third carries a maximum 7-year sentence, leading to a possible maximum 17-year sentence between the three charges.

He says that although the charges are explicitly immigration-related, Voice of the Martyrs Korea remains concerned that the motivation for the charges is religious.

“Voice of the Martyrs Korea obtained copies of a notification sent out in January by the Khabarovsk Department of Education to educational and other child care institutions in the area. The notification says in part, ‘In the capital of the region, a citizen of South Korea, an agent of an American organization Park Tae-Yeon’s Child Evangelism Fellowship set up a brainwashing machine for children, instilling values alien to our society and drawing them into the practice of the Korean-American form of Protestantism.’ The statement continues: ‘Russian children were set against the family and the state, and Park Tae-yong herself was presented to them as the main life guide. The camp was carefully conspiratorial.’ The notification concludes: ‘Park Tae-Yeon intended to take Russian children to South Korea for final zombification, but did not have time. Now Park Tae-Yeon has been detained, a criminal case has been opened for organizing illegal migration.’”

Park Tae-yong
(Photo courtesy VOMK)

Pastor Foley says that similar reports appeared in state-affiliated Russian media in late January.

“The criminal charges and media campaign against Missionary Park reflect the continued decline in religious freedom across the Russian Federation, particularly as it relates to Protestant Evangelicals,” says Pastor Foley. “The 2025 US Commission on International Religious Freedom report on Russia says, ‘Russia criminalizes the activities of several peaceful religious groups by designating them as “terrorist,” “extremist,” or “undesirable,” despite no evidence of their promotion of or participation in violence.’ That’s exactly what we see in the case of Missionary Park. Her activity hasn’t changed for more than 30 years. The only thing that has changed is that now Russian authorities calls people like her ‘extremists’, ‘brainwashers’, and ‘conspirators against Russia’, despite all common-sense evidence to the contrary.”

Since 2021, the United States has designated Russia as one of 12 ‘Countries of Particular Concern’ for religious freedom violations, along with countries including China, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, and Cuba.

Individuals interested in signing the petition on behalf of Missionary Park can visit https://vomkorea.com/en/petition-2026.

Header image is a screenshot from a video of missionary Park’s arrest posted on the Биржа политиков – Хабаровский край (Political Marketplace – Khabarovsk Krai Telegram Channel)

Russia (MNN) — There’s encouraging news to share about a South Korean missionary detained in Russia — and many are calling it an answer to prayer.

Ms. Park Tae-Yeon, 69, has been held by Russian authorities since January 15. Earlier this week, Mission Network News reported on her arrest and an online petition calling for her release. That story was picked up by South Korean media, and quickly reached people who could help.

(Photo courtesy of VOM Korea)

Eric Foley with The Voice of the Martyrs Korea says those headlines mattered.

“We really believe it is [an] answer to prayer. The Voice of the Martyrs Korea has confirmed that Ms. Park met for 40 minutes with a representative from the Korean consulate on the afternoon of February 3.”

Park is also in a better living situation now. “We can confirm that today, Ms. Park was moved from the detention center to house arrest after submitting a pledge not to leave Russia until the end of the investigation,” Foley says.

Park was targeted at the same time as Child Evangelism Fellowship in a months-long investigation by Russian officials. The charges against her remain unchanged, which means the hard work is still ahead.

Foley says the situation highlights a broader pattern.

Russian flag (Photo courtesy of Dimmis Vart/Unsplash)

“This is an example of the increasing restrictions on religious liberty, especially for evangelicals in Russia. So let’s make sure we’re praying for both of those situations — one, the release of Ms. Park, but also that this is really the tip of a very big iceberg.”

The Voice of the Martyrs Korea continues to collect signatures for a petition calling for Park’s immediate release. The ministry will deliver the petition to the Russian embassy shortly after the Lunar New Year.

Access the petition here.

Please pray for Park’s encouragement, protection, and full release. Pray also for Christian ministries in Russia, asking God to guard believers and keep the Gospel moving forward despite growing pressure.

Header photo of Ms. Park Tae-Yeon, courtesy of VOM Korea.

“Listening to shortwave radio broadcasting, listening to any foreign radio broadcasting is illegal and highly punishable,” Foley says.

However, he shares that this doesn’t mean radio is obsolete. “Twenty percent of North Koreans are estimated to possess radios where they can listen to shortwave broadcasts. That’s a much higher percentage than any other means of reaching people for the Gospel,” Foley states. “North Koreans are very private. When they hear those things, they don’t share them with many people. But when something is heard by North Koreans on the radio that really impacts them, there is that opportunity that they may share with other family members.”

(Image courtesy of mon18marti via pixabay)

Likely Increase in Jamming

Unfortunately, dwindling government broadcasts into North Korea likely mean some of the jamming efforts previously focused on the US and South Korean governments will now be turned to Christian radio broadcasts. The threat is real, but Foley says they are making preparations.

“Outlets in the US have erroneously reported that already the jamming has occurred, or that Christian radio broadcasts have been stopped. And that’s simply not true. That’s not an accurate statement. Instead, what’s accurate is that Christian broadcasters are really aware of it, and we’re taking all of the steps we can in order to prepare for the possibility that North Korea may repurpose some of that electricity that they used to use against the US and South Korean government broadcasts to jam ours.”

Continuing to Share the Gospel

Despite the challenges, Foley states that VOM Korea is adding another radio broadcast to their daily schedule. Like their other programs, this broadcast will feature sermons from early Korean Christians as well as continuous reading of the Bible. They try to make these broadcasts as practical as possible.

Man reading Bible (Photo courtesy by Unsplash)

“We started using North Korean announcers, and from the beginning, our broadcast has only had North Korean announcers. And then we found that these sermons from the early Korean Christians really spoke to the hearts of North Korean people today, because their situation is so identical. The South Korean church has changed a lot, as South Korea has become a much more modernized, westernized country. But for North Korea, you can draw a straight line from the early Korean Christians of the 1880s, which is when Protestant Christianity came to the Korean peninsula. Today, North Korean Christians haven’t changed. So the sermons from these great beginning first, early Korean Christians really speak to their hearts.”

Foley asks that the Church pray for North Korean Christians. Any Church activity is dangerous, but listening to radio broadcasts can be conducted in a great degree of secrecy. Please pray that any efforts to jam Christian broadcast signals would be thwarted. If you want to learn more about North Korea’s radio broadcasts, click here.

Header photo courtesy of Roman Harak of Flickr

Details about the new broadcast’s time, radio frequency, and launch date are being withheld for security reasons.

Voice of the Martyrs Korea CEO, Pastor Eric Foley, says that listening to Christian radio broadcasts is the most common religious activity among North Korean Christians.

“Based on our own religious experiences, we often assume that the most common religious activities of North Korean Christians would be things like gathering together for underground worship services or reading the Bible privately or praying,” said Pastor Foley. “But these kinds of activities are easily detectable by onlookers, because they are distinctly Christian activities. Even prayer is typically done in a certain posture, where the person sits a certain way, holds their hands a certain way, moves a certain way, and concentrates and whispers. On the other hand, listening to foreign radio broadcasts is also illegal, but it’s a far more common activity which is less obviously ‘Christian’ to onlookers, including other family members who may not be Christian.”

NK defectors and South Korean volunteers record our shortwave radio broadcasts.
(Photo, caption courtesy of VOM Korea)

According to Pastor Foley, between 14 and 20 percent of North Koreans listen to foreign broadcasts through headphone radios purchased on the gray and black markets. He explains that because listening to such broadcasts can be done overnight in the dark in silence, it remains the primary way that North Koreans are able to access Christian content.

“Each time we meet North Koreans who are new to South Korea, about 30 percent of them have had some previous exposure to Christianity. The primary two means of that exposure cited by North Koreans are Christian radio broadcasts and Christian content sent by balloon,” says Pastor Foley. Foley says that meeting Christian workers during defection is also frequently cited as a source of Christian contact, but it is often less favorably regarded by North Koreans. “Often that kind of contact does not happen by choice but by necessity,” says Pastor Foley. “A North Korean may need a place to stay while trying to make money in China or may need help defecting. They meet a Christian broker or discipleship base leader, and they are then required to participate in certain religious activities in exchange for receiving the help they need. It’s very different than choosing to tune in a Christian radio broadcast or choosing to keep a Bible they find on the ground from a balloon launch.”

Pastor Foley says that when he and his wife, Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr Hyun Sook Foley, began their ministry 20 years ago, North Korean underground Christians made two requests of the couple.

“They asked us, ‘Please send Bibles by balloon, and please broadcast programs that help North Korean Christians understand Christian persecution biblically,” says Pastor Foley. He notes that balloons and radio have typically been used to send political messages or general news and information rather than content tailored for North Korean underground Christians.

“North Korean underground Christians expressed concern to us that much of the Christian radio broadcasting into North Korea is either the re-broadcasting of the regular preaching of South Korean pastors, which is difficult for them to understand both linguistically and conceptually, or it is content that says they are being persecuted because they have not repented of the idolatry of their ancestors,” says Pastor Foley.

He says that is why the ministry decided to broadcast the sermons of early Korean Christians, as recorded by Voice of the Martyrs Korea volunteers and students of its North Korean “Underground University” missionary training program for North Korean defectors.

“The life of the early Korean Christians is very similar to the life of underground North Korean Christians today,” says Pastor Foley. “The sermons of the early Korean Christians explain biblically that persecution is the result of faithful witness, not punishment for the actions of ancestors.”

(Photo courtesy of VOM Korea)

Pastor Foley says the sermons are broadcast Monday through Thursday, and the weekend broadcasts are readings of the whole Bible. “This enables North Korean Christians to make their own copies of the Bible by writing down what they hear, or simply to have a way to regularly hear the Bible. Very few broadcasts into North Korea contain only Bible reading, uninterrupted by sermons or teaching or other content.”

Pastor Foley says he believes the cessation of the government broadcasts to North Korea shows the difference in motivation of government and Christian broadcasters.

“For governments, sending information into countries changes as their strategic interests change,” says Foley. “Information is sometimes seen as a political tool for regime change or for applying pressure on human rights issues. For Christian broadcasters, the motivation is what the Apostle Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:2: ‘Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season’. Voice of the Martyrs Korea never broadcasts news, information, or politics. We simply preach the word. The cancellation of the government broadcasts means that more North Koreans than ever are likely to be exposed to the gospel, as fewer other options are now available for listening. That is why we are adding a fifth broadcast.”

Pastor Foley says his organization formerly aired five daily broadcasts but was forced to cut one due to a decrease in sponsorship. “Voice of the Martyrs Korea neither receives or accepts funds from governments or government-funded sources, but a drop in sponsorship a year ago led us to have to cancel one of our broadcasts,” says Pastor Foley. “We believe the time is right to add the broadcast back in, and we are trusting the Lord to continue to provide the funding resources.”

Individuals interested in hearing the Voice of the Martyrs Korea daily radio broadcasts into North Korea can listen online here. More information about Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s North Korea radio broadcasts is available here.

Header and story images courtesy of VOM Korea. 

North Korea recently blew up parts of roads and rail lines connecting to South Korea and built blockades.

“This is a real change in relationships between North and South Korea,” says Eric Foley with The Voice of the Martyrs Korea.

“Since the inception of the countries and the end of the Korean War, North Korea has always had, as its stated goal, the reunification of the Korean peninsula under North Korean leadership, the leadership of the Kim family.

North Korean flags (Photo courtesy of John Pavelka via Flickr under Creative Commons License: https://goo.gl/jxWHHm)

As evidenced by the severed cross-border ties, Foley says, “Now North Korea has changed that goal…. It no longer wants to reunite with South Korea. It says it’s a separate country, a separate people, an alien group, a puppet of the United States, and something that is outside of North Korea’s goals for the future.”

At the same time, North Korea has sent troops to Russia, possibly to fight in Ukraine. With the potential for North Korean troops to come back with modern combat experience, it’s significantly straining relations with South Korea.

South Korea, for its part, has only supplied Ukraine with humanitarian aid but refrained from sending lethal weapons. However, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol confirmed that if North Korean troops go to fight in Ukraine in cooperation with Russia, South Korea would consider arming Ukraine with defensive weapons and even possibly offensive weapons.

Despite the rising pressure on the Korean Peninsula, Foley reminds believers of our Gospel mission: There are still souls at stake.

“The opportunities are still there for Gospel ministry today. Even though the North Korean government says you can’t reach our people, the Word of God says that the Word of God is not bound.”

VOM Korea sends 40,000 Bibles a year into North Korea. Today, miraculously, it’s estimated up to 8% of North Koreans have seen a Bible with their own eyes.

“God still finds ways to reach ordinary North Korean people through radio broadcasts like ours which air four times a day, and through the Bibles that we send by land, sea, and air.”

(Photo courtesy of Eric Foley/VOM Korea)

Various methods of secretly reaching North Koreans with the Gospel could face further criticism and censorship from South Korea out of fear of antagonizing their northern neighbors. South Korea had temporarily banned private citizens from launching balloons (including those carrying Scripture leaflets) over the border. The law was later struck down by South Korea’s Constitutional Court in September 2023.

“It’s important to remember that balloon launching is not a recent phenomenon in South Korea. It goes back to 1969 and in fact, even earlier,” says Foley.

“Various political parties have made efforts to ban balloon launching in an effort to appease North Korea. But no activity [by] the South Korean government…has so far resulted in the appeasement of North Korea.”

Foley asks, “Pray against a spirit of fear, both on the part of the ordinary people – the North and South Korean people – the governments of those two countries, as well as Christians.”

Ask God to open doors for the Gospel into North Korea, and to ultimately change hearts through salvation in Jesus Christ.

Header photo courtesy of Roman Harak/Flickr under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

As hard as it is to get people out of North Korea, it’s also incredibly difficult to get Bibles into North Korea.

Eric Foley with The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) Korea says, “We have to remember, at the end of the day, any means of getting a Bible into North Korea from any direction has essentially been criminalized.”

(Photo courtesy of The Voice of the Martyrs Korea)

In light of North Korean Freedom Week, Christians praying for this nation remember that true spiritual freedom for North Koreans is found in the Gospel.

VOM Korea aims to do everything it can to continue getting Bibles across the North Korean border by any means necessary — something for which Foley was arrested and interrogated in South Korea four years ago.

“I said to the Lord, ‘If I can get just one more Bible into North Korea, Lord, then it would be worth it.'”

The people of North Korea desperately need hope that can’t be taken away. Whether or not they escape an earthly dictatorship, they can know freedom in the promises of Jesus Christ.

That’s why VOM Korea’s bold ministry in Bible smuggling continues.

“Every year, The Voice of the Martyrs Korea — by the grace of God and with the partnerships that we have with the Voice of the Martyrs organizations around the world — has gotten more than 40,000 Bibles a year into North Korea,” says Foley.

“Let’s do what we can to partner with underground North Korean Christians today, because today is the day for Gospel ministry in North Korea.”

Learn more about VOM Korea here!

Header photo courtesy of Micha Brandli/Unsplash.