Christmas has become a bonanza of commercialization in the west. In the blizzard of sleigh bells and elves on shelves, it’s easy to forget the true reason for the season. We get caught up in the presents and the Christmas parties and it seems like the baby in the manger, the angels and the shepherds get forgotten.
Thankfully there are brief moments when Christmas carols like “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” hit the airwaves or we catch a glimpse of a nativity scene in our neighbor’s yard that serve as good, albeit fleeting reminders. Even in a secularized country like the U.S., it’s hard to remember that Christmas is about God’s amazing and miraculous gift to us in Christ. Not so in North Korea where the holiday is almost completely eradicated.
For most North Koreans, Christmas is another winter day. Of course, there are celebrations in the state-controlled churches (which exist mainly for the benefit of sightseeing foreigners). Most North Koreans are completely unaware of the holiday. The North Korean government has a stranglehold on information and the regime is particularly hostile to any form of religion.
For North Koreans, Kim Jong-un and his family function as gods. Other religious figures or beliefs are strictly forbidden, as they might interfere with the undying loyalty of citizens to the Kim family. In fact, in 2016, Kim Jong-un mandated that the nation celebrate his grandmother’s birthday on December 24, to further suppress any attempts of celebrating anything else. All citizens were required to pay tribute to the deceased royal grandmother while much of the world was celebrating Christmas Eve.
In the U.S. and other countries, the “war on Christmas” is a figurative controversy. In North Korea, it is literal. At one point, South Korea erected a sixty-foot-tall Christmas tree near the border with the north and lit it up at Christmas. Its purpose was to show solidarity with North Koreans who still wished to celebrate the holiday. The North Korean government threatened to shoot it down, claiming the Christmas tree constituted “psychological warfare.”
Since the threat of punitive action from the regime is ever present, Christians in North Korea who do seek to celebrate Christmas have to do so in secret. A family may meet for quiet prayer inside their house or on rare occasions it may be “possible for Christians to go unobtrusively into the mountains and to hold a 'service' at a secret location. Then there might be as many as 60 or 70 North Koreans gathered together.”
For a part of the world once known as the “Jerusalem of the East”, this is a dark reality for the North Korea of today. In an interview with author and blogger Tim Challies, Joel Kim, President of Westminster Seminary California, shared that “Pyongyang was the site of a number of Christian schools, including the first Presbyterian seminary in Korea [in 1901].” This seminary would go on to become ground zero for much evangelical activity in Korea. It is shocking and disheartening to see how far North Korea has fallen in the span of a century.
Even where celebration of Christmas is possible, it will be subdued and secretive. There are no festivities—Christmas in North Korea will certainly not have eggnog, Santa Claus, carols or even presents. In 2017, Kim Jong-un actually prohibited “gatherings that involve alcohol and singing.”
Such festivity would imply that there is something other than the North Korean government and leaders that is worth celebrating. It would communicate that someone other than the Kim dynasty is able to give good things to its people. The Kim regime has worked hard to make citizens dependent on their government, to look to the Kim family alone for leadership and all good things. In countries around the world this December, Christians will celebrate God’s miraculous gift of salvation and hope to the world in the person of Jesus Christ. But for the North Korean government, this gift constitutes a threat to their supremacy and exclusive control over its people. For many North Koreans this year, it will be an act of courage to celebrate Christmas at all.
As we open our gifts and gather with our family and friends, let us remember the wonderful gift we have as we celebrate Christ in freedom this year. Let us also remember those who risk their lives to celebrate in secret.
