We continue to pray for four people in prison in North Korea and China for the sake of the Gospel.  South Korean Pastor Kim Jung-Wook is serving a life-sentence in North Korea for his efforts to spread the Good News inside North Korea.  Elderly (71 years old) Korean-American, Peter Hahn, has been in detention in Tumen, China since last year.  He operated a technical high school and had a number of projects going in North Korea.  The other two people are a Canadian couple, Kevin and Julia Garratt, who ran a coffee shop in Dandong, China and provided humanitarian assistance in North Korea.  They also organized prayer for North Korea. Both are charged with spying.  Here is a bit more information on the Garratts and Peter Hahn. Please keep all four of these brave souls, who are suffering for the sake of the Gospel, in your prayers.

Meanwhile life for the people of North Korea continues to be bleak with increased surveillance, ongoing restrictions on travel and even more on commerce, new efforts to quash anti-Kim Jong Un activity, bribery that begets bribery, demands for parents to pay for school upgrades, forced participation in the mass games for what turned out to be a disappointing celebration of Great Sun Day (Kim Il Sung's birthday) and general high level abuse of power. Economic conditions continue to be a concern. Check out this new market roundup report. Respect for their own currency has fallen to such a low level that North Koreans consider finding an NK coin to be bad luck.  People have taken to burning books about the Kim dynasty because that is safer than having them in their home and not being able to keep them in pristine condition.  The young ruler is also continuing to purge elements in the government who might threaten his authority.  There is a new report that he has had 15 top officials executed do far this year.

However, while all this goes on, there are the new wealthy who sport more trendy fashions and are buying up property, especially in Pyongyang. Party cadres are also binging on South Korean TV dramas even though they are supposed to be preventing others from watching them.  In addition to expanding markets (often at great personal risk to the women traders who have taken to "hot pepper bombs" for self-protection), more personal farming is going on, which will help the food situation.

As for the leader... well, he seems to doing well as he revives the North Korea leader's traditional pleasure troupe and continues to grow fatter--although this may prove to be his downfall.

On the international trade front, recent confirmations of large reserves of rare earth minerals (critical to modern electronics and not widely available) are increasing Chinese and Russian involvement. Tourism is also a growing business--or at least the government hopes it will be--and the North is recruiting people to teach English to tour guides... at the teacher's expense.

Koinonia and Korea: Thoughts on Unification

This is an anthology of essays by Fr. Archer Torrey that relate to North Korea and the future of the whole land.  Released in August of last to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Fr. Torrey's passing away, it is the first time that any of his writings have been published in both English and Korean in one volume. Anyone interested in this important work may order through us if your are outside of Korea or, if you are in Korea, directly from the publisher, Hong Sung Sa or at Christian books stores.  If you are ordering from the US, the cost is $14 plus shipping: $12 by surface (takes about two months) or $20 by air.  If you order several copies, shipping fees will vary.  Email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you are interested.

Ben Torrey
Director
The Fourth River Project, Inc.
www.thefourthriver.org