The worshippers seemed to be not so much actors, as believers who had proved their loyalty to the regime - much as, by the 1940s, Korean Christians had to acknowledge the divinity of the Japanese emperor if they wanted to stay in business. But there are others. The iconography of the Kim cult clearly borrows from Christianity. In another apparent move to be more inclusive, a few years ago North Korea claimed to have found the grave of Tangun, the mythical founder of Korea and an object of worship for some in South Korea. But the Kim cult also has its downside.
Foreigners find it grotesque or worse.
On the other hand, a liberal Pentecostalist I met recently, a regular visitor to North Korea, claims that a house church movement is both growing and to some extent tolerated. In the country's present straits, the regime may be unable to rule by suppression alone. Cardinal Kim, a noted conciliator within South Korea, will do his best to assess the prospects. As in other communist regimes, it would be no surprise if behind the conformist facade, in the quiet of people's hearts, the old faiths remain vibrant and strong. With little enough to be thankful for in this world, North Koreans may well pin their hopes on the next.