A sobering report released by the US State Department has revealed the extreme penalties imposed on Christians found possessing a Bible in North Korea, including the death penalty and life imprisonment for their families. The report adds an alarming detail that even children of these families are not spared from these punitive measures. The International Religious Freedom Report for 2022, a comprehensive analysis by the State Department, estimates that North Korea has detained up to 70,000 Christians. This number includes believers from different faiths who have also been unjustly incarcerated for their religious beliefs. A particularly chilling case cited in the report involves a two-year-old child sentenced to life imprisonment. The draconian sentence was handed down after the child's parents were found with a Bible, highlighting the ruthless extent of religious persecution in the country.
