Extreme Devotion: North KoreaНамуна

A Dangerous Secret

Nearly every day for 11 years, Park Chin-Mae dutifully monitored North Korea’s border with China. From 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., he watched for North Koreans attempting to defect or smuggle contraband into the country. 

Chin-Mae took pride in his work as a border guard, even though he was guilty of the same illegal activities for which he arrested others. Like many North Koreans, he relied on illegal smuggling simply to survive.

When another guard reported Chin-Mae’s smuggling ring, he spent 60 torturous days in prison. And he hadn’t even smuggled the most dangerous item into the country — a Bible. 

“Those who let Bibles into North Korea had a more severe punishment than someone who kills people,” Chin-Mae said. 

Despite the punishment he suffered, Chin-Mae returned to smuggling as soon as he returned to work; financially, he had no other choice. 

One day, Chin-Mae agreed to help a woman from his village smuggle a shipment of DVD players into North Korea, knowing he could make money in the deal. When the woman arrived at his post with 30 boxes, Chin-Mae opened a random box to give the appearance of inspecting the shipment. But the box he opened happened to contain six Bibles. 

Suddenly, his heart filled with fear. Although he had never seen a Bible before, he had been taught that they were subversive to Juche, the North Korean religion that requires worship and subservience to the Kim family. 

“We didn’t see anything today,” he told the woman. “You and I, we keep the secret until we die.” 

North Korean border guards must follow a strict protocol when they seize one or more Bibles. They are forbidden from opening Bibles and must report them to their superiors before enduring 10 days of interrogation. 

“They know that the Bible is the enemy,” Chin-Mae said of North Korea’s border guards. “It is something they choose to avoid at all times. I wouldn’t even dare open it because of my Juche ideology.”

After Chin-Mae finished his mandatory military service, he decided to flee the country. A friend who had fled to South Korea years earlier had occasionally told him about life there, and Chin-Mae decided to experience it for himself. 

After arriving in South Korea in 2017, Chin-Mae underwent the standard three-month entry interrogation to ensure he wasn’t a spy. After his release, he entered a settlement center for defectors, where he spent another three months learning about life in South Korea. North Koreans at the settlement center are encouraged to choose a religion to help them navigate their new life, so Chin-Mae decided to attend a church service to learn more about Christianity. 

He volunteered at the church to help set Bibles out before the worship service. As he placed Bibles on the empty chairs, Chin-Mae realized he was holding the very book that would have gotten him killed in North Korea. 

During Chin-Mae’s three months at the settlement center, he never missed a daily prayer service. His love for the church and God’s Word continued to grow until he eventually rejected the Juche religion and placed his faith in Jesus Christ. 

“I knew the only way I could survive in South Korea was to stick to God,” he said. “I didn’t just read it [the Bible] like any other book; I read it and I took every word of the Bible into my heart.”

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for reaching Chin-Mae with Your love and with Your Word. Thank You for using even a North Korean border guard to get Your truth into the closed country of North Korea. I praise You for never ceasing to reach us with the Word of Life. Please help more Bibles get into North Korea, and please help those of us who do have a Bible to take every word into our hearts like Chin-Mae so that we can grow in You daily. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.