Kim Jung-wook: A Case of Arbitrary Detention & Religious Persecution in North Korea

Nearly twelve years after South Korean missionary Kim Jung-wook was arrested for his Christian faith inside North Korea, his fate remains shrouded in silence. Detained in October 2013 for allegedly bringing religious materials across the border, Kim was later forced to “confess” to espionage and sentenced to life with hard labor. Since then, his family has received no word of his condition or whereabouts. Human rights organizations and the United Nations have condemned his imprisonment as a grave violation of international law, calling it a stark symbol of North Korea’s systematic assault on religious freedom and basic human dignity.