North Korea the worst country to be a Christian, Open Doors report says

A global report indicates that North Korea is the most dangerous place in the world to "follow Jesus," with Christians being imprisoned in labor camps or even executed for their faith. Timothy Cho, a spokesperson for the Christian charity Open Doors UK, stated that he fled North Korea when he was 17 years old.

Mr. Cho said that children in North Korea are indoctrinated from a young age with the national ideology to "believe, respect, talk and act as if Kim is God," referring to the Kim dynasty that has ruled the country with an iron fist since the mid-20th century. He also pointed out that North Korea often claims that Christianity is an American religion and attempts to use it to undermine North Korean society.

Consequently, a person's Christian faith is seen as treason and the "crime of all crimes," punishable by being sent to a gulag or execution. The international organization Open Doors' World Watch List—now in its 31st year—once again ranks the isolated North Asian dictatorship as the most oppressive country on earth for Christians.

Open Doors engages in international Christian mission work, including distributing Bibles, and also serves as a human rights watchdog. Its findings on the persecution of Christians in North Korea are consistent with those of other Christian and human rights organizations, Western governments, and the United Nations. A 2022 report by the UN Secretary-General's office on North Korea found that "the rights to freedom of thought, conscience and religion…continue to be denied and the authorities do not allow other belief systems to exist."

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom stated in its 2024 annual report that religious freedom in North Korea "remains among the worst in the world," with Protestant Christians being particularly vulnerable to state persecution. North Korea has faced severe food shortages in recent decades, often exacerbated by natural disasters, and isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic has further worsened the situation. "We can become numb to the fact that people are dying," Adam Holland, CEO of Open Doors Australia, told ABC.

He stated that Open Doors is calling on the international community to review the impact of economic sanctions on North Korean civilians and to use UN Security Council exemption mechanisms to provide humanitarian aid to the country. "I understand some concerns are that food could be used for military purposes, but there are monitoring mechanisms," Mr. Holland said, adding that he has written to Foreign Minister Penny Wong and International Development Minister Pat Conroy requesting a meeting on the issue. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been contacted for comment.

The 2025 World Watch List report tells the story of Joo Min, a North Korean defector who fled to China, encountered Christian missionaries, and then decided to return to North Korea to run an underground church. "If I am caught, I will likely pay a heavy price in a labor camp for being a Christian," the report quoted her as saying. Church groups often help people flee North Korea to China and then to Southeast Asian countries, where they usually seek asylum in South Korea or other international embassies.

In Mr. Cho's case, he sought and was granted resettlement in the UK in 2008. Since then, he has become a human rights activist, has run as a Conservative Party candidate, and works with the UK's All-Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea. Most of the countries listed on the 2025 World Watch List have predominantly Muslim populations, with Somalia, Yemen, Libya, and Sudan following North Korea in the top five.

Many of the top 50 countries identified on the list are located in Africa and the Middle East. Asian countries also rank highly on the list as hostile environments for Christians, including Hindu-majority India, Buddhist-majority Myanmar, and the communist one-party states of China, Laos, and Vietnam. Indonesia and Malaysia did not make the top 50 on this year's World Watch List as there were fewer incidents of violence against Christians than in previous years.

However, Myanmar's ongoing civil war means it has risen four places to 13th, with researchers noting that violent conflict between the junta and opposition forces puts Christians, estimated to be 6% to 8% of the population, at risk of persecution and violence. The instability in Myanmar means that already marginalized groups, including Christians, are being pushed further to the fringes, Mr. Holland said. The World Watch List states that in Kachin State in northernmost Myanmar alone, there are over 100,000 Christians in displacement camps, trying to "avoid being killed or detained by regime forces or Kachin rebels."

Meanwhile, Mexico—where 91% of the population is Catholic—ranks 31st on the World Watch List due to organized crime violence targeting those associated with the church. The report says that hostile cartels are targeting church leaders and Christian organizations, "especially those who try to mediate peace or help victims of violence and intimidation."