Seven days of prayer for the children of North Korea

North Korea requires children to live a regimented “organisational life” — a set of rituals serving both surveillance and indoctrination. Even before a child goes to kindergarten, nurseries operate to cultivate young revolutionaries in Kim Il-sung’s ideology.

According to one defector, at these nurseries — before a child learns to say “mum” or “dad” — he is taught to say before each meal, “Thank you, Father, for this food,” while looking at pictures of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. From kindergarten, children are given games such as “Smashing Americans” and “Throwing Grenades”. During the years when habits form, children are taught loyalty to the Kim family and hatred of the United States and South Korea.

North Korean children begin organisational life by joining the children’s union the moment they enter elementary school.

It is mandatory to set aside a regular time to reflect on one’s life and to point out publicly the wrong actions of others. That time is called *saenghwal chonghwa*; naming each other’s faults is called mutual criticism. It continues into adulthood. Feelings are hurt and it often leads to fights. Against the Bible’s teaching that love covers a multitude of sins, hatred is encouraged and close relationships are broken in the name of loyalty to the country.

In North Korea, children are made to work in the afternoon after their morning classes. During the rice planting and autumn harvest seasons, classes are suspended for a month so that children can be mobilised for forced labour, including construction and agricultural work. Most work without adequate safety equipment. Many parents bribe teachers to avoid sending their children.

The number of children born to North Korean defectors in “third countries” such as China is increasing. They are called North Korean defectors, but they have never lived in North Korea; they were born outside both Koreas. Most of those born and raised in China eventually come to South Korea with their mothers.

Third-country-born defectors now outnumber those born in North Korea. But they are not legally North Korean, and so have not been able to receive the support North Koreans are eligible for in South Korea. A subsidy for families with children born in third countries exists, but support and policy for children whose circumstances differ from those born in North Korea remain thin.

Children born in North Korea sometimes experience separation from their families and then reunion. Children born in third countries find themselves in something more complicated. To survive in China and elsewhere, women defectors often marry local men and give birth before completing their journey to South Korea.

Where it is impossible to leave with the child, the mother comes alone and brings the child later. The child is separated from her at a young age, or from the family in the third country, including the father. Arriving in South Korea, the child has to adapt and learn the language before there is any time to deal with what has happened. The mother is adjusting too, and often cannot afford to look after him.

The difficulties defector families face in South Korea are real — language, identity, belonging. But they no longer face death threats or a desperate need to escape.

Do not forget the children who are still in third countries: separated from repatriated parents, or living in constant fear of their own repatriation to North Korea.

Despite the innumerable challenges North Korean children face, there are dedicated believers working on their behalf.