PRESS RELEASE
(BARTLESVILLE, Okla.) In a highly unusual press conference in Pyongyang in September, the National Security Service of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) announced the arrest of “foreign spies” and “native citizens working for a foreign intelligence service.” The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM), a ministry serving Christians in restricted nations who are persecuted for their faith, announced today that those arrested in North Korea were in fact Christian believers and not spies.
The security service spokesman at the press conference, Li Su Gil, said that those arrested “carried out the missions by means of diverse espionage equipment.” He did not name any of those arrested.
VOM has identified the following North Korean Christians who have disappeared and are believed to have been arrested by government authorities:
Onseong, North Hamgyong Province: Chul Huh, male
Chun-Il Jang, male, 39
Young-Su Jin, male, 32
Myung-Chul Kim, male, 36
Nam-Suk Kang, male, 48
Young-Yae Lee, female, 37
Hoeryong, North Hamgyong Province:
San-Ho Kang, male, 36
Cheongjin, North Hamgyong Province:
Mi-Hae Park, female, 30
Suk-Chun Suh, male, 29
These North Korean Christians had started a portrait photography studio to help support.
