{"id":70741,"date":"2018-05-01T12:05:47","date_gmt":"2018-05-01T16:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=70741"},"modified":"2018-05-01T06:59:13","modified_gmt":"2018-05-01T10:59:13","slug":"atlantic-north-koreas-secret-christians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=70741","title":{"rendered":"(Atlantic) North Korea’s Secret Christians"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Korea turned off dozens of high-volume loudspeakers on Monday, putting a halt to the propaganda they normally broadcast over the border into North Korea. The move, a government spokesman\u00a0said<\/a>, was designed to set a peaceful tone ahead of the\u00a0talks<\/a>\u00a0between the two Koreas Friday\u2014a tone that was reinforced by the announcement that the countries had committed to work toward a peace agreement. The strikingly amicable inter-Korean summit will in turn set the tone for an upcoming U.S.-North Korea summit, during which President Trump and Kim Jong Un are expected to discuss denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. But while the South\u2019s loudspeakers have stopped blaring reports critical of the North, forbidden messages are still flowing across the border\u2014on the airwaves of a Christian radio station.<\/p>\n

South Korea\u2019s largest religious radio broadcaster, the Far East Broadcasting Company, transmits gospel-centered programs to both North and South Korea every day of the week. The station\u2019s goal is to use Christian radio to subvert the Kim regime\u2019s strict ban on religion, and ultimately pave the way for a unified, Christianized Korean Peninsula. The Christians behind FEBC advocate for the reunification of the two Koreas under a democratic system, which they believe would bolster religious freedom. What\u2019s more, they see Christianity and North Korean ideology as mutually exclusive\u2014and argue that the former can be an antidote to the latter.<\/p>\n

Around 20 percent of South Korea\u2019s population\u00a0identifies<\/a>\u00a0as Protestant, and Protestantism has roots on the Korean Peninsula stretching back to the 19th century, when American missionaries began arriving there. The religion gained stature as churches became\u00a0associated<\/a>\u00a0with the resistance to Japanese occupation of a then-unified Korea during World War II, but still remained on the margins\u2014only\u00a02 percent<\/a>\u00a0of South Koreans were Christian in 1945.<\/p>\n

But the two Koreas took different religious paths following their division in 1948….<\/p>\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Korea turned off dozens of high-volume loudspeakers on Monday, putting a halt to the propaganda they normally broadcast over the border into North Korea. The move, a government spokesman\u00a0said, was designed to set a peaceful tone ahead of the\u00a0talks\u00a0between…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more ›<\/a><\/div>\n

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