Three leaders of an underground church in North Korea have been executed and 20 Christians have been sent to a prison labour camp in Yodok. Sources say the arrests and executions were carried out in mid-May when police raided a house in Kuwal-dong in Pyungsung County, Pyongan Province, and arrested 23 believers who were gathered there. The leaders were tried and sentenced to death, and the authorities wasted little time in carrying out the executions.

A Seoul-based group that seeks to raise awareness about injustices in North Korea, the North Korea Intellectual Solidarity, confirmed the events.

North Korea is one of the most difficult places in the world to be a Christian, and it is estimated that there are at least 400,000 Christians, all of whom are living under constant threat of imprisonment, torture or public execution if the authorities discover their Christian faith. It is thought that between 40,000 and 60,000 Christians are currently in prison labour camps because of their faith. Such camps are notorious for brutal treatment, starvation and torture, sometimes to death.

• Pray for those who follow Christ in North Korea, that they will continue to have opportunity to meet together and share fellowship and encouragement with one another, and that the Lord will grant them protection.

Source: Barnabas Fund