The North Korean government says there are 543 house churches and about 12,000 Christians in the country. But the real number of Christians is about 60,000, Lee told Religion Today. North Korea's three-year famine has had the effect of spreading the Gospel. Travel is restricted in the communist country, but more people are risking trips to find food. Christians are careful when talking about their faith, waiting until they can trust a person before discussing the subject.
Christians suffer persecution at the hands of the government.
A woman who escaped from a North Korean prison camp in 1992 said she saw many Christians executed. Soon Ok Yi said she was imprisoned for five years at Kae-Chun Rehabilitation Center in South Pyong Province after being falsely accused of mismanagement by a communist official she offended. The camp had 40 to 120 Christians imprisoned at any given time. Christian prisoners were beaten and tortured by guards trying to make them renounce their faith, she told Voice of the Martyrs . Yi became a Christian after escaping from the camp and defecting to South Korea.