Dec_week4 2025 North Korea Prayer
1. Strengthened Crackdowns by ‘Group 82’... Yet Students enjoy ‘teasing’ the inspectors
A member of the patrol unit cracking down on a resident walking on the street in Chongjin, North Hamgyong Province, in early 2017. / Photo = Daily NK
Article Summary
As the end of the year approaches, crackdown activities by members of Group 82 (82nd Allied Command), an organization that monitors anti-socialist and non-socialist behavior, are being significantly strengthened across North Korea. Amid intense crackdowns in cities like Hoeryong and Chongjin, the reaction of young people is appearing completely different from the past. In particular, behavior teasing the inspectors is becoming prominent among senior middle school (high school) students. Students walk around with earphones in their ears and pretend to run away when an inspector appears, intentionally drawing attention. However, upon inspection, nothing warranting a crackdown is found on their mobile phones or belongings. Inspectors have no grounds for punishment and have no choice but to send the students back. The students turn around and express joy, saying, “We succeeded in making a fool of them.” Inspectors who notice this feel displeased but are unable to respond properly. This behavior is interpreted as an indirect expression of resistance in a situation where it is difficult to directly rebel or publicly voice dissatisfaction due to the nature of North Korean society. Recently, Group 82 has been vigorously cracking down on impure video materials and further strengthening inspections of Neighborhood Watch Unit (Inminban) households and on the streets. [ 2025.12.15. Daily NK / View Article https://buly.kr/8emf3qF ]
Prayer Topics
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18,19)
As the end of the year approaches, crackdowns on anti-socialist and non-socialist activities are being strengthened across North Korea, but young people are instead showing indirect resistance by teasing the inspectors. Lord, we thank You that despite how strongly the North Korean authorities impose crackdowns and control, North Korea’s next generation is not bound by the fear of censorship or the dread of the regime’s coercion.
Lord, shine Your light upon the consciences and hearts of the inspectors, who are victims of the Kim family’s three-generation hereditary dictatorship. Let the anti-socialist and anti-humanitarian crackdowns based on oppression and control come to an end, and let the North Korean regime, maintained through lies and surveillance, collapse from within.
Let North Korean youth keep resisting the regime, and let a heart that longs for freedom and truth grow within them. Thus, let the gospel unification of liberal democracy be swiftly achieved.
2. North Korea, Deploying Military Technicians and Skilled Munitions Factory Workers to Russian Drone Production Sites
The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers' Party of Korea, reported on the 13th, “A welcoming ceremony for the 528th Engineer Regiment, returning after carrying out the Party’s combat orders in overseas operational areas, was grandly held on December 12 at the April 25 House of Culture Plaza in the capital, Pyongyang.” / Photo = Rodong Sinmun, News1
Article Summary
It has been reported that North Korea is in the process of dispatching a large number of military technicians and skilled munitions factory workers to Russian drone production sites. The dispatch is led by the Munitions Industry Department of the Central Party and is evaluated as a strategy to absorb military technology rather than just for simple foreign currency earning. Inside North Korea, the selection of candidates has already reached the third stage, and guidelines have been shared that military technicians can be converted to civilian status for dispatch. Russia has reportedly stated that simple labor for assembly, parts organization, and transportation would be sufficient. North Korean personnel have been coordinated to take on roles including second and third-stage assembly, process assistance, and even inspecting the operation of the produced drones. North Korea reportedly prioritized individuals with experience in soldering, low-voltage electronics, and repairs for selection. To this end, a method was designed to convert military technicians or skilled munitions factory workers to the Cabinet’s jurisdiction before dispatching them, and these drone production personnel are planned to be dispatched through a separate line independent of the military command chain. Previously, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine stated that Russia plans to attract 12,000 North Korean personnel to the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan by the end of this year to produce kamikaze drones. [ 2025.12.18. Daily NK / View Article https://buly.kr/BpGIiXB ]
Prayer Topics
“The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations.” (Psalm 33:10,11)
Let t he illegal acts of Russia, which persists in illegal military cooperation with North Korea—a country subject to UN sanctions—despite being a permanent member of the UN Security Council, be stopped immediately.
Protect the lives and health of North Korean military technicians and skilled workers who are being dispatched to Russia while hiding their military status and disguising themselves as civilians. Let the day come quickly when they can enjoy lives as human beings respected in the image of God, rather than being tools of unrighteousness for making lethal weapons.
Lord, by swiftly achieving the gospel unification of liberal democracy, let North Korea be established upon the gospel and truth. Have mercy on the North Koreans who are being driven into war and the development of lethal weapons to maintain the Kim family’s three-generation hereditary dictatorship, and let true freedom and human rights be granted to them as well.
3. Military Failed to Respond Even to North Korean Mines ‘Violating the Armistice Agreement’
In a photo released by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in June of last year, North Korean soldiers are planting mines on the northern side of the Demilitarized Zone near the Military Demarcation Line (MDL). / Newsis
Article Summary
Concerns are being raised about the South Korean military's lukewarm response as it was belatedly confirmed on the 19th that the North Korean military crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) and planted mines on the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone. Although the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) stated they are responding according to established procedures, criticism is emerging that no proper countermeasures were taken even though the North Korean military is directly violating the Armistice Agreement through mine planting and other activities. Since last March, the North Korean military has crossed the MDL 16 times, with 13 cases concentrated in October and November. The North Korean soldiers discovered during this process are presumed to be personnel carrying out tasks such as land clearing or mine planting near the MDL. In the case of October 19, about 20 North Korean soldiers crossed the MDL in the Paju area of Gyeonggi Province and moved south, leading our military to fire warning shots. Our military captured the movement of North Korean troops and issued several warning broadcasts, but fired warning shots as they continued to move south. Regarding the JCS's directive to “closely evaluate the situation first to see if firing is absolutely necessary” regarding North Korean MDL incursions, criticism is arising that this essentially neglects North Korea’s hostile acts. In response, the military maintains the position that it is “responding according to established procedures.” It is reported that the military is concerned that responding with warning shots could lead to an accidental military clash between the North and South. [ 2025.12.19. Munhwa Ilbo / View Article https://buly.kr/3u4Cxnb ]
Prayer Topics
“Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” (Psalm 127:1)
Concerns have been raised regarding our military's lukewarm response after it was belatedly confirmed that the North Korean military crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) and planted mines on the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone. Lord, grant wisdom and insight to our military and defense/security policymakers so they may make right judgments.
Let the President and officials, who have the constitutional responsibility to protect the lives and property of the people, make responsible decisions before the Constitution, the law, and the people. May God Himself protect the national defense and security of the Republic of Korea.
May the gospel unification of liberal democracy be swiftly achieved, so that the day comes when residents of North and South Korea worship and praise the Lord together on a Korean Peninsula where wire fences and landmines have disappeared.
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