(April 30, 2016)
He was warned that his life was in danger. Chinese police and South Korean intelligence officers had told Pastor Han Chung-Ryeol of Changbai, China, that we was at the top of a North Korean “hit list.” He, his wife, and other Christian leaders had even agreed on security precautions designed to protect him while allowing him to continue his ministry to North Koreans. But after receiving a phone call one afternoon at his church, the pastor uncharacteristically disregarded those precautions and left alone. His body was found that evening in a rural area along the North Korean border.
Han and his wife moved to Changbai in 1993 to lead a small church of ethnic Koreans, who compose about 25 percent of the population in that part of China. Han himself was a Chinese citizen of Korean ancestry.
One thing the couple hadn’t expected was that their ministry would expand to include North Koreans. When they arrived, they found the border controls between China and North Korea relaxed, with many Chinese and North Koreans crossing back and forth regularly to visit friends or family. Having suffered crippling economic woes and food shortages during the 1990s, North Korea had left its citizens with little choice but to cross the border into China in search of food, medical help and a better life. Word spread among those seeking help that churches were one of the best places to go. Soon, Han and his wife were helping a growing number of North Koreans, and as a result, many were also placing their faith in Christ.
Han faithfully taught these new believers, many of whom returned to North Korea to share the gospel with their families and neighbors. Though the pastor and his wife knew they were doing dangerous work, he felt strongly that the best way to get the gospel into North Korea was through North Koreans evangelizing their own people.
Among North Koreans, Han became known as the man who could be counted on when help was needed. Even as other churches stopped ministering to North Koreans for fear of backlash from the Chinese government, Han continued to greet them with open arms. The work was dangerous, but the ministry was successful and growing steadily. When he learned that he was on a hit list, specific security precautions were put in place to keep him safe. For example, he never left his house or the church alone, and he stopped driving along the border.
On April 30, 2016, when Han received the phone call and left so abruptly, his wife did not think of it as especially out of the ordinary. She grew concerned, however, when he didn’t come home that evening. And when he didn’t answer his phone, she called the police.
By 7 p.m. that night, Han’s body had been found in his car in a remote area near the North Korean border. He had been stabbed in the heart, and his neck was slashed—a common calling card of North Korean government assassins. Additional wounds to his head indicated the degree of his attackers’ anger.
The seeds that Han planted continue to bear eternal fruit. Many North Koreans who met him share God’s love with their friends and family inside North Korea, bringing the light of the gospel into one of the most restricted countries for Christians.