Oct week3 Prayer for North Korea
1.North Korean Residents Jumping into Eyelash and Wig Manufacturing Work
A view of Sinuiju, North Pyongan Province, North Korea, from Dandong, Liaoning Province, China. / Photo provided by Seungju Lee, profiler at the Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG)
▶ ▶ Article Summary
It has been reported that an increasing number of residents in North Korea's North Pyongan Province are making a living by manufacturing eyelashes and wigs. According to sources, in several cities and counties within North Pyongan Province, including Sinuiju and Kusong, the number of residents engaging in eyelash and wig manufacturing has significantly increased. Even young female students from impoverished families are skipping school to participate in this work. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, manufacturing eyelashes and wigs was considered a form of hard labor, and most residents would not engage in it unless they were extremely poor. However, as many people are now struggling to even afford corn meals, more residents are turning to this work, which requires no initial capital and only labor to generate income. It takes about a day to make one eyelash set if working overnight, or two days if done intermittently. A wig takes three to four days of diligent work to complete. Since the end of August, cash, rather than rice, has been given as payment for this work. Given the recent rise in food prices in North Korea, paying in cash has become more favorable for employers. In the past, workers could receive up to 12 kg of rice for making a wig, but now the payment is less than 30,000 won, which is below the current price of 5 kg of rice, approximately 32,500 won.
[October 11, 2024. Daily NK / View article: https://url.kr/v4ecyz]
▶ ▶ Prayer Topics
“The Lord says, ‘Because of the oppression of the poor and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise and place them in the safety they long for.’” (Psalm 12:5)
ￏ In the past, manufacturing eyelashes and wigs was considered hard labor, done only by the extremely poor. Now, many people, including young girls who are skipping school, are engaging in this work full-time. Lord, have mercy on our North Korean brothers and sisters.
ￏ The recently released 2024 Global Hunger Index report identifies North Korea as one of the 10 countries most severely affected by hunger, with more than half of the population suffering from malnutrition. Lord, please provide daily bread to the starving people of North Korea. Protect their health and lives until the day of Gospel reunification, when they can freely believe in Jesus.
ￏ May the Kim Jong-un regime, a third-generation hereditary dictatorship that opposes God and exploits its people, and the idolization system of Juche ideology, come to an end swiftly by God's means.
2. 15-Year-Old Teenagers Sent to Political Prison Camp for Listening to South Korean Songs
Illustration of a North Korean political prison camp. / Image generated by Adobe Firefly
▶ ▶ Article Summary
It has been reported that in Jagang Province, North Korea, 15-year-old teenagers were sent to a political prison camp for listening to South Korean pop songs. According to sources, in early September, two male second-year high school students (sophomores) from Jeoncheon County were dragged off to a political prison camp. These two boys, who were classmates and had no significant issues in their school life or friendships, were arrested after one student reported them for listening to South Korean songs on an MP3 player and sharing them with a few friends. During the State Security Department’s investigation, it was revealed that the MP3 player contained dozens of South Korean songs. The boys were severely punished for not only possessing but also distributing "puppet regime" songs. A week after the students’ arrest, their families also disappeared, reportedly sent to political prison camps under the charge of failing to properly educate their children. This punishment, which is equivalent to a life sentence, applied to the parents as well as the siblings of the students under the system of guilt by association. The local community has been left in shock, and the atmosphere in the region has become tense. According to sources, some residents speculate that this severe punishment was intended as a warning, particularly in Jagang Province, where there are many military factories and facilities, to prevent the exposure of residents to capitalist culture.
[October 10, 2024. Daily NK / View article: https://url.kr/9hgp1i]
▶ ▶ Prayer Topics
“They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval. With their silver and gold, they make idols for themselves to their own destruction.” (Hosea 8:4)
ￏ Recently, in North Korea, 15-year-old students, along with their families, have been imprisoned in political camps for listening to South Korean songs. The North Korean authorities are tightening their control and increasing the severity of punishments to prevent ideological deviation among the youth. Lord, we pray for the abolition of inhumane laws like the Reactionary Thought and Culture Rejection Act, the Youth Education Guarantee Act, and the Pyongyang Cultural Language Protection Act, which are used to prevent the ideological freedom of the MZ generation in North Korea.
ￏ Lord, have mercy on our North Korean brothers and sisters who are deprived of all freedoms under Kim Jong-un's totalitarian dictatorship. May the North Korean regime realize that the desire for freedom among its young people cannot be suppressed by any harsh punishment, and transform North Korea into a country that respects freedom and human rights.
3. Kim Jong-un Builds Massive Prison Camps… Is This Becoming a 'Second Berlin Wall'?
North Korea has recently announced its decision to completely cut off all land connections, including roads and railways, with South Korea. The border between the two Koreas stretches for 254 km, and since January this year, North Korea has taken measures to completely block railways and roads along both the east and west coasts of the Korean Peninsula, starting with the restoration of guard posts (GPs) at the forefront of the DMZ. They have cut off existing railroads and roads, planted mines, and made these areas impassable by erecting barriers. This latest announcement essentially formalizes the unilateral actions North Korea has already been implementing. According to Hong Min, Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, the term "fortification" used by North Korea implies the deployment of military forces or the expansion of barriers to create a permanent wall. North Korea's General Staff declared that these barriers are being erected as a protective measure in response to what it perceives as a crisis brought on by continued military drills by the U.S. and South Korea. However, Hong Min explains that this is a politically motivated attempt by North Korea to justify its claim of two separate nations on the peninsula while shifting blame to the U.S. and South Korea.
[October 10, 2024. YTN / View article: https://url.kr/oupmpa]
▶ ▶ Prayer Topics
“Remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” (Hebrews 13:3)
ￏ North Korea has cut off railroads and roads in the border areas and planted mines in the DMZ, now further fortifying the region with the construction of permanent barriers. Lord, have mercy on the North Korean people who live and die as slaves, unable to hear the Gospel in what is essentially a massive prison.
ￏ Lord, may Your will be done, and bring about reunification under the freedom of democracy and the Gospel. May the people of North Korea enjoy freedom and liberation, and most importantly, the freedom to believe in Jesus. We pray that families separated between North and South can reunite and freely travel back and forth.
ￏ We ask that both internal North Korean conditions and international circumstances move toward reunification through the Gospel, and that North Koreans may soon experience true freedom and liberation.
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