US: "North Korea's Religious Freedom Has a Long Way to Go... China Is at War with Religion"

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] Sam Brownback, U.S. State Department Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, pointed out on the 10th (local time) that North Korea has a long way to go regarding the issue of religious freedom and urged it to act like a normal country. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo did not make any specific remarks about North Korea's religious issues but heavily criticized China, accusing it of waging a war against religion.

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

At a foreign press briefing following the release of the '2019 International Religious Freedom Report,' Ambassador Brownback cited cases where North Korean residents stay in China for a certain period, come to have faith, then return to North Korea only to be sent to forced labor camps and sometimes lose their lives, saying, "We want to ask North Korea to act like a normal country."

He added, "We hope they allow people to freely practice their faith regardless of what religion they have, to freely gather according to their faith, and to speak freely without fear of persecution and retaliation."

The U.S. State Department also stated in the 2019 International Religious Freedom Report released that day, "The U.S. government has consistently made it clear to North Korea that human rights issues, including religious freedom, must be addressed for full normalization of relations."

Secretary Pompeo held a separate briefing following the report's release, but his attacks were directed at China, not North Korea. This maintained a stance of not provoking North Korea while continuing a hardline approach toward China.

At the briefing, Secretary Pompeo criticized, "The state-level repression of all religions in China continues to intensify," and said, "The Chinese Communist Party now orders religious institutions to submit to the Party's leadership."

He also fiercely condemned, "The state-level repression of all religions continues to intensify," and stated, "We have religious freedom, but China continues its decades-long war against religion."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.