A/HRC/25/CRP.1 externally-sourced funds.271 According to one report, former attendees of the university said, “graduates from [the university] programme work for the religious federations, the foreign trade sector, or as border guards seeking to identify clandestine religious activity”. The same report alleges that state-approved churches are showpieces for foreign visitors.272 Witnesses have also told the Commission that the churches that have been established with permission by the state are not true churches that are open to those who want to practise Christianity freely.273 252. Based on first-hand testimonies received from Christians in the DPRK, one organization has surmised that: (i) no churches as such exist in the DPRK except in Pyongyang, and it was questionable how far the family (or house) churches sanctioned by the authorities are functioning or free to carry out their activities; (ii) churches and temples that do exist are substantially used for external propaganda and political purposes; and (iii) all former DPRK citizens interviewed stated that one would certainly be persecuted for practising religion at a personal level.274 Buddhist temples and shrines are reported by former DPRK nationals to be maintained only as heritage and cultural sites, and not as functioning places of worship.275 (c) Practising Christianity as a political crime 253. The Commission finds that despite the establishment of several churches with state approval apparently confined to Pyongyang, the messaging from the state to the people regarding Christianity clearly suggests that ordinary citizens in the DPRK are not permitted to be open to Christianity. It has been compared to a drug, narcotics, a sin, and a tool of Western and capitalist invasion. Christian missionaries are portrayed as the product of USA capitalism and work akin to vampirism.276 This appears in line with what Kim Il-sung has been quoted to have stated regarding religion: “Religion is a kind of myth. Whether you believe Jesus or Buddha, it essentially believes a myth [sic].” He had also further directed that, “we cannot take religious people to the socialist society” and “religious people should die to cure their habit”.277 • Mr Kim Song-ju at the London Public Hearing told the Commission: “To my knowledge, North Korea believes that religion is like narcotics or drugs, and, as a result, it should be completely rooted out. This is expressive of the Marxist belief that religion is the opiate of the masses.”278 254. Although the practice of Christianity is not explicitly criminalized, effectively the authorities consider it a political crime. The Commission finds that the SSD makes concerted efforts to identify Christians. One report describes how security agents are trained to suppress religious activities, and how they are rewarded for uncovering clandestine activities on the basis that religious practitioners are deemed political offenders. These agents also spoke of being trained in religion so that they might infiltrate prayer meetings or pose as religious leaders, and even set up false underground religious 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 Mr Timothy, Seoul Public Hearing, 22 August 2013, afternoon; TLC018. USCIRF, “2013 Annual Report”, pp. 110-111. Mr Timothy, Seoul Public Hearing, 22 August 2013, afternoon; TLC024. KINU, White Paper on Human Rights in North Korea (2013), pp. 270-271. USCIRF, “2013 Annual Report”, p. 111. Mr Timothy, Seoul Public Hearing, 22 August 2013, afternoon; TLC018; a witness included in one submission to the Commission described having heard a story as a child of Christians living secretly in basements of hospitals and luring innocent people who were killed and whose blood were sucked and sold to bad people, SUB048. See KBA, 2012 White Paper on Human Rights in North Korea, p. 255 and footnote 33. London Public Hearing, 23 October 2013, session 1 (01:05:06). 71