Kim Jong-Il is the "Eternal President of the Republic" of North Korea, a man who's glorified by parades, adulatory poems memorized by members of the military, and the absolute submission of his subjects. The ersatz Juche religion (est. 1955) changes its beliefs according to circumstances and has elevated him to god-like status.
Other gods need not apply. The three Christian churches in the capital city of Pyongyang are showpieces to give an impression of religious tolerance, but in the rest of the country Christianity is illegal. Up to 60,000 believers are imprisoned in concentration camps and some are publicly executed. In a singular achievement the country has occupied the #1 spot for eight years running as the world's worst persecutor of Christians.
Kim Seung-min was an army captain and allowed to travel. He found a disconnect between the wealth of the elites ("Dear Leader" sometimes gives Mercedes Benzes for birthday gifts) and the incomprehensible poverty of the population. On one trip he came upon a common sight: a pile of bodies killed by starvation. But this time he was unnerved by the people surrounding one corpse, mesmerized by lice marching away from it to find a new, live host. It was clear that North Korea's god dictated hopelessness, despair, fear and apathy.
Kim escaped to China where he met Christians but didn't accept their faith. Coming from a place where history books teach that Christian missionaries crucify children probably made him wary. He was captured by the Chinese and deported. Crossing a bridge to his homeland and realizing he was destined for execution, he wished he could sing a song of praise to the Lord but didn't know any. He vowed that if he lived he'd learn some.
He was tortured and sentenced to death. On the trip back to Pyongyang he jumped out the window of a moving train, made it back across the border, reunited with his Christian friends and came to faith in Christ.
Kim now operates Free North Korea Radio from South Korea. This isn't easy. Interviewed by Michael Gerson of The Washington Post, Kim said "Korean socialist groups held demonstrations, forcing us to move from location to location. In the mail, we got axes covered in blood. North Korea sent spies. Hackers attacked our web site. At some point, all of us started carrying Tasers for self-protection." He now has bodyguards.
His informants report happenings in the North and he transmits the stories back across the border to radios and cell phones smuggled in from China. In an ironic twist - or maybe an act of God - officially atheistic China was where Kim "first found the true meaning of the cross." And today it provides the tools that enable his mission.
Kim's journey from despair to hope is inspiring and the hand of God is evident. A life-changing conversion in an underground church awakened him to the only God who can sustain him - and his name isn't Kim Jong-Il.
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