North Korean Freedom Coalition confronts ‘godless’ ruler with Jesus’ teachings.
Christmas is illegal in North Korea, but that hasn’t stopped a group of activists from delivering messages of hope, faith, and freedom to the people suffering under Kim Jong Un’s regime.
Flash drives commemorating the event and including Bible readings were launched into the Yellow Sea in bottles, where they will be carried by currents to the North Korean peninsula’s coastlines.
“We should be doing everything we can to get information into North Korea by land, sea, and air,” says Suzanne Scholte, chair of the North Korean Freedom Coalition in Washington, D.C., which sponsored the messages. The action is part of the group’s “Operation Truth,” which Scholte describes as “modeled after the Berlin Airlift to get critical aid to North Korea’s starving people.”
The bottles have been launched 17 times by the group. Each bottle also includes enough rice to feed a family of four for a week, as well as a Bible on a flash drive and a $1 note from the United States. Nine North Korean escapees who wish to bring freedom to their motherland were among those who launched the messages.
Scholte’s Christmas message, which is contained in the bottles, says, “Christmas, which is celebrated all around the world on December 25th, commemorates the day when Jesus was born…Many of your forefathers believed in Jesus as well. In reality, Pyongyang became renowned as a Holy City in 1907 because there were so many Christians who believed in Jesus. However, when Kim II Sung took control, he wanted North Koreans to worship him as a god rather than the one true God. As a result, he assassinated several Christian leaders and imprisoned or exiled others. He tried everything he could to murder Jesus’ followers…”
The flash drives also contain North Korean music with lyrics that have been changed from honoring Kim Jong Un to glorifying God. They also play K-Pop tunes, the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, and recorded messages from many members of Congress advocating for North Korean freedom. Senators Jim Risch and Tim Kaine, as well as Congressmen Michael McCaul and Gregory Meeks, were among those who recorded messages.
In 2022, the North Korean Freedom Coalition began its outreach. It has also distributed 600 shortwave radios with ear buds throughout the kingdom. During the summer, they launched a service in which Americans could order products for delivery to North Korea.
Scholte stated that as a result of her group’s efforts, an increasing number of North Koreans are learning about the outside world.
“We must communicate to the people in power in Pyongyang that they have friends and allies in Korea and America, who have only one desire for them: to share with the benefits of a free people, to give them a life of home instead of despair,” she went on to say.
“Those in positions of power in the DPRK regime wake up every morning with only two options: be slaves devoted to Kim Jong Un or die and leave their families to die.” That is why so many people began to flee – not simply for food, but for freedom and a better life.”
Scholte’s organization, along with the Defense Forum Foundation, also contribute to the operation of Free North Korea Radio, a station that broadcasts news and information inside North Korea. Its director, Kim Song Min, escaped in 1997, and despite government attempts to jam its programming, the station has continued to transmit on shortwave and the internet.
“Those in positions of power in the DPRK regime wake up every morning with only two options: be slaves devoted to Kim Jong Un or die and leave their families to die.” That is why so many people began to flee – not simply for food, but for freedom and a better life.”
Scholte’s organization, along with the Defense Forum Foundation, also contribute to the operation of Free North Korea Radio, a station that broadcasts news and information inside North Korea. Its director, Kim Song Min, escaped in 1997, and despite government attempts to jam its programming, the station has continued to transmit on shortwave and the internet.
Another message is being delivered to the people of North Korea by the activists, one bottle at a time.
According to Scholte, such a message is what Americans value. “The benefits of a free people are a life of hope instead of despair.”
