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In recent weeks the communist state has issued a series of threats against both South Korean and US targets, to which the US has responded with high-profile movements of advanced aircraft and warships around the Korean peninsula. (See Prayer Alert 12-2013) Most people believe North Korea does not want all-out war, even though they intend restarting facilities at its Yongbyon nuclear complex. The move came a day after Pyongyang announced a ‘new strategic line focusing on its nuclear programme and economy.' Life in North Korea is famine ravaged. A man in South Hwanghaewas killed by firing squad after it was learned he had eaten his two children, the Sunday Times reported recently. North Korea would neither confirm nor deny the account of the execution but it is not the first time that the communist regime is believed to have punished residents who resorted to cannibalism in order to stay alive. Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/report-starving-north-korean-father-resorts-cannibalism-article-1.1250773#ixzz2PO2jG2i6
Pray: that the aggressive rhetoric and military posturing will not result in counter-actions and pray for stability and calm communications. (Ps.2:1-2 & Ps.113:4-6)
More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/02/us-north-korea-nuclear-plan
The new Supreme Leader has clamped down on mobile phone use, declaring any use of a mobile phone during the 100 days of mourning for his father an act of war leading to charges of treason and long prison terms or death. Only a small percentage of the population has mobile phones, those who do own handsets are limited in their calling scope to their economic class. Lowly workers can contact only other lowly workers. The elite are likewise sequestered to their own economic tier. The communications, from low to high, are monitored. One false step in phrasing could earn years of hard labour. The government monitors mobile calls and surfing the Internet so little ‘outside’ news passes through filters for the 400,000 internet users.
Pray: that God would enable western truths and technology to reach North Korea. (Ps.110:2)
More: http://www.mobilephones.org.uk/mobile-news/north-korean-mobile-phone-use-equates-to-treason/
Panama's president Ricardo Martinelli said his country has seized a North Korean-flagged ship in the Panama Canal carrying ‘undeclared sophisticated missile equipment.’ The 35-strong crew had resisted the search and the captain had tried to kill himself. The US ‘commended’ Panama for its actions and said it strongly supported a full inspection of the ship. The ship had crossed the Pacific from Cuba without its automatic tracking system switched on - a move described by the BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner as highly suspicious. The suspected weaponry was found in two containers and finding further ‘surprises’ was not ruled out as the search of the ship continued on Wednesday. Neither Cuba nor North Korea has yet commented on the incident. Under United Nations sanctions North Korea is banned from weapons exports and the import of all but small arms. North Korea has an on-going missile development programme.
Pray: that all North Korea’s black-market dealings would continue to be intercepted, and that sanctions would achieve the desired results. (Job 34:28-30)
More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23324170
North Korea warned foreigners to leave South Korea because ‘the two countries are on the brink of war’. Observers say this is mostly bluster to bolster Kim Jong Un’s image. However America's allies are taking precautions. Japan has deployed two interceptor missiles capable of engaging a North Korean rocket. North Korea founds its historical legitimacy on its ferocious animosity against U.S. imperialism and is what makes the current moment so dangerous. - SPIRITUAL INSIGHTS reveal that North Korea has deep political roots going back much further than 1945. Wedged awkwardly between China, Russia and Japan, the Korean Peninsula has long been a bloody battleground for greater powers. Korean rulers only managed to survive by playing one foreign power off against the other and by offering subservience, mainly to Chinese emperors, in exchange for protection. This legacy has nurtured a passionate fear and loathing of dependency on stronger countries.
Pray: that North Korea will turn from the state religion of Juche (Ps.4:2-3) Pray also against an all-out holy war on the west. (Ps.4:8)
More: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/April/N-Korea-Warns-Tourists-to-Evacuate-South-Korea/
200,000+ North Koreans, including many Christians suffer brutal conditions in labour camps for political prisoners. Camp 14 is known as a ‘complete control district,’ meaning its 50,000 prisoners will work there until death. Camp 22 also holds 50,000 is the size of Los Angeles and thought to be used for human experiments. Camp 25 holds felons, religious leaders, spies and their families, and is controlled by the secret police. Very few survive a labour camp. The average sentence is 15 years, the average labour camp life expectancy is seven years. Up to three generations of entire families have been detained in government efforts to ‘root out class enemies.’ Christian workers along the border and inside the country face the continual threat of arrest and the subsequent consequences. Yet additional workers are in training for this dangerous work. Voice of the Martyrs request prayer for North Koreans, their team of workers and the North Korean underground church.
Pray: that God will guard the hearts of North Korean Christians and mission workers.(Ps.17:8,9)
More: http://www.salem-news.com/articles/june152012/korea-religion-pk.php
The North Korean attack against a South Korean island on 23 November is being called ‘one of the most serious incidents between the two nations since the Korean War.’ It was North Korea's third major provocative action this year. China has called for an emergency meeting of the six countries involved in talks about the North's nuclear disarmament. But South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said he was not interested in resuming the six-party talks immediately, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.See: Western observers learned that North Korea has a modern uranium enrichment facility with at least 1,000 centrifuges - potentially offering Pyongyang [the capital of North Korea] another route to nuclear power. Observers speculate hostility may be an attempt to manufacture North Korean victories ahead of the exchange of power from Kim Jong-Il to his son, Kim Jong-Un. North Korea is number one on the Open Doors World Watch List 2010. Pray: for the Lord to intervene in this conflict, establishing and maintaining peace. (Ps.37:37) More: http://www.win1040.com/post.php?id=917
Aijalon Mahli Gomes, a 30-year-old American sentenced to eight years in a labour camp for illegally entering North Korea, was hospitalised after a suicide attempt. Officials claim he was motivated to kill himself out of ‘his strong guilty conscience’ and ‘his frustration’ with the US government’s effort to set him free. Gomes, a devout Christian, was captured after crossing into reclusive North Korea from China on Jan. 25th and sentenced in April to eight years hard labour and fined about $700,000, for ‘hostile acts’ against the country. In June, North Korea threatened to impose harsher punishment (wartime law) in retaliation to America’s ‘campaign’ of international pressure following the sinking of a South Korean warship in March. Prior to entering North Korea, Gomes was an English teacher in South Korea, and protested for the release of another Christian who illegally entered North Korea to urge leader Kim Jong-il to repent. After more than six months, it is still unclear what Gomes’ motivation is for entering North Korea. Pray: for the Lord to strengthen Aijalon as only He can and for many advocates to obtain his speedy release. (Lk.21:19) More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/us.christian.attempts.suicide.in.north.korean.jail/26267.htm
On Thursday AFP reported Hwang Jang-Yop, the highest-ranking official ever to defect from North Korea is calling for ‘ideological warfare’ against the hard-line regime and says China could easily bring it down if it chose to. Jang-Yop, who is at the top of North Korean agents' hit-list, is paying a tightly guarded visit to Washington as he seeks support from US policymakers and activists against his former government.The 87-year-old mentored leader Kim Jong-Il, presided over North Korea's parliament and is credited with developing the regime's ideology of ‘juche,’ or self-reliance. Speaking on Wednesday to a small audience at a think-tank, Jang-Yop discounted the options either of attacking or engaging Kim's regime and said it was instead crucial to show North Koreans the human rights violations around them. For insights from sensitive Christian sources to help you pray for North Korea click the info button below.
Pray: for God to give Jang-Yop the words that would be heard around the world to bring a colossal nonviolent turnaround of regime in North Korea. (Is.41:2)
The Panorama program reporting on North Korea this week showed poverty and greyness - a bottling factory with no bottling going on; a collective farm with no crops or animals; a smart new hospital with no patients ; but most of this is already known. Real insights come from escapees over the border in South Korea and from experts and analysts. North Korea is a secretive, dangerous place, with brainwashed people - often in the dark because the lights don't work. What we don’t hear in the media is the 200,000+ North Korean citizens, including many of our Christian brothers and sisters, suffering under brutal conditions in six confirmed labour camps for political prisoners. Three examples are:- Camp 14 - where 50,000 prisoners will work until death. Camp 22 - the size of Los Angeles used for human experiments. It also holds about 50,000 prisoners. Camp 25 - controlled by secret police and believed to hold felons, religious leaders and spies and their families. Very few North Koreans survive detention camps. See: http://www.salem-news.com/articles/june152012/korea-religion-pk.php
Pray: for God in His mercy to touch the lives of North Korean people, for His protection to be over believers and God's workers in the underground church. (Ps.64:9-10)
More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2013/apr/15/panorama-inside-north-korea-review
‘Seoul USA’ has launched balloons filled with Bibles and Christian literature into North Korea for 40 years. In April they began attaching GPS tracking devices to the balloons to refine their effectiveness. Seven days after the first GPS tracking launch North Korea began blocking GPS signals from South Korea. Jamming disrupts passenger air flights and ships. The jamming signals are coming from somewhere near the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas. This is precisely the area where Seoul USA's payloads have been shown to land. The jamming reveals just how concerned North Korea is over the balloon launches. North Korea doesn't fear military might. Economic sanctions don't slow them down. The economic situation in N Korea is dire, for internal reasons apart from external sanctions But the spread of the gospel is a direct and serious challenge to the message that Kim Il Sung is god and deserves the unquestioned allegiance of the people. To halt the spread of that message it seems that North Korea will stop at nothing.
Pray: for a softening of hearts and minds of North Koreans to God’s truth; may now be the season of fruitfulness from this 40 year ministry. This may be one peripheral form of Christian witness to N Koreans, but there are many more effective ones, not least from Yonggi Cho's Church (Ps.95:7b-8)
More: http://vomcblog.blogspot.co.uk/