North Korea loses its faith in Kim

A North Korean defector has revealed how fewer citizens now 

see Kim Jong-un (pictured) as a god with more people turning

to Christianity

Fewer citizens in the hermit state worship

Jong-Un as a god

• Practising religion in North Korea is 'punishable by jail,
• torture or execution'
• But a defector claims many are abandoning the notion 
• that Kim Jong-un is a God
• Citizens are increasingly turning to Christianity despite 
• the risks this presents 

A North Korean defector has revealed how fewer citizens now see

 Kim Jong-un as a God with more people turning to Christianity.

Anyone caught practising religion of any form in the hermit state 

can face jail, torture or even execution, according to a US State 

Department report on global religious freedoms.

But despite this, many are abandoning the notion that their 

supreme leader is a deity, according to an unnamed defector.

The defector, part of a group called the Worldwide Coalition to

 Stop Genocide in North Korea, told the Daily Telegraph: 'In the past, 

the people were told to worship the Kim family as their god, but 

many North Koreans no longer respect Kim Jong-un. That means

 they are looking for something else to sustain their faith.

'In some places, that has led to the emergence of shamens, 

but the Christian church is also growing and deepening its roots there.

'Even though people know they could be sent to prison - or worse - 

they are still choosing to worship, and that means that more cracks

 are appearing in the regime and the system,' said the defector, who

 is said to be active in backing 'underground churches' operating 

in the secretive nation. 

It comes after the US released a damning report into global

 religious freedoms, slamming allies and foes alike for their

 shortcomings at a time when its own record has come under fire.

Many are abandoning the notion that their supreme leader

 is a deity, according to an unnamed defector

Launching the first report since President Donald Trump took 

office, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson took swipes at Bahrain,

 China, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Turkey.

But the report also took aim at North Korea for denying

 people the 'right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion'.

The report says: 'The government continued to deal harshly

 with those who engaged in almost any religious practices through

 executions, torture, beatings and arrests', the report states.

'An estimated 80,000 to 120,000 political prisoners, some

imprisoned for religious reasons, were believed to be held

in the political prison camp system in remote areas 

under horrific conditions.' 

The State Department's annual report on religious freedom,

 released by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, deals with 

around 200 foreign jurisdictions - but not the US homeland

The report does not look into policy in the United States, 

where Trump won office on a pledge to ban all Muslim immigration 

and is now battling US courts for the right to ban arrivals from 

eight mainly-Muslim states.

But Tillerson - who gave a brief address to launch the report - 

insisted the administration will continue to promote religious 

freedom around the world as a 'moral imperative' and 

a universal human right.

'Religious persecution and intolerance remains far too prevalent,'

 he said. 'Almost 80 percent of the global population live with

restrictions on or hostilities to limit their freedom of religion.

'Where religious freedom is not protected, we know that instability, 

human rights abuses, and violent extremism have a greater

 opportunity to take root,' he warned, in a brief speech

 at the State Department.