The APPG FoRB attended a meeting hosted by the APPG on North Korea on May 18, 2026, regarding ongoing human rights violations in North Korea.
Multiple Members of Parliament and members of the House of Lords attended the event to learn more about conditions within the country and the threats posed by the North Korean regime.
Those in attendance heard from Tae Yong-ho, the Secretary General of South Korea’s Peaceful Unification Advisory Council. Tae previously served as North Korea’s deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom before defecting to South Korea with his family in 2016.
Mr Tae spoke about numerous human rights violations committed by the North Korean regime, including political imprisonment, torture, religious persecution, and executions carried out against its own citizens. He also warned of the continued advancement of North Korea’s nuclear programme and the threat it poses to international security.
He explained that, following the rise of Kim Il Sung, Christianity and other forms of religious belief were systematically suppressed throughout North Korea. According to Mr Tae, the regime viewed Christianity as fundamentally incompatible with the absolute loyalty demanded by the state. He specifically brought up the Christian teaching that all men are seen as equal in the eyes of God, which would directly oppose the class system structure in North Korea.
Mr Tae described how churches and places of worship were destroyed, repurposed, or placed under strict state control, while many religious leaders were imprisoned or executed. Today, individuals discovered practising Christianity or other unauthorized religions continue to face severe punishment, including imprisonment, torture, and execution.
He also explained that many North Korean Christians are forced to practise their faith in complete secrecy, often hiding their beliefs even from close family members out of fear for their safety.
Mr Tae spoke about the role that underground Christian networks and churches near the Chinese and South Korean borders have played in assisting North Korean defectors, offering humanitarian aid, religious teaching, and hope to those fleeing persecution. As a result, many secret believers remain inside North Korea despite the regime’s efforts to eliminate religious practice.
He further noted that when some North Koreans first experience Christian worship after leaving the country, aspects of it can feel strangely familiar. Mr Tae explained that the North Korean regime has adopted structures and practices that mirror religious devotion, directing absolute loyalty toward the ruling family and the state ideology.
He pointed specifically to the “Ten Principles for the Establishment of the One-Ideology System,” which function as a guiding ideological code within North Korea and demand complete devotion to the Kim dynasty.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief remains firmly opposed to the human rights abuses and violations of freedom of religion or belief occurring in North Korea and is committed to working with parliamentarians, governments, and civil society partners to defend the rights of people of all faiths and none.
