GOD: I don't want to be killed. AMEN.

“I come from a very ordinary background", says Timothy Cho, addressing his audience at Wycliffe Hall. While humbly meant, it’s already clear that much of what he’s about to say will sound – to our free, democratic, Western ears – shockingly far from "ordinary".

Personal background

I am a North Korean escapee. I lived there for 17 years. My father betrayed the country by fleeing with my mother during a period of famine known as the ‘Arduous March’. I was left behind, alone, at the age of nine and labelled a traitor's child, I could not go to school or get a job. I was four times imprisoned in North Korea and China, two-time defector, and a fellow inmate brought me to Christ at the age of 17.

Persecution of Christians

Christianity is the largest religion in the world. Yet some 380 million are persecuted and this number is continuing to increase - to the roof. Where will it end? I was at a conference last week in London. I was on my own representing North Korea and I received countless questions: What is it like in North Korea? How did you escape…? Afterwards, I sat down and cried. Because it's not only MY story.

The 'religion' of North Korea

North Korea is often assumed to be an atheist country. But, the country has its own religion. Who is the ‘god’? It is the Kim. There is a cult of personality around the Kim: you are forced to worship him.

Growing up in North Korea

At a meal, you had to give thanks to the Kim family because you were able to eat something. When the first Kim died, I said to my father: Are we going to die because our Kim has died? I couldn't attend school. Aged 17 I couldn't join the army because I was told: Your father betrayed his country.

Political/cultural climate

There is pyramid structure with Kim at the top; the party; the state. Everything has to be under 10 ideological principals – like a kind of perverse Ten Commandments. In North Korea they cut away all the media and silence your voice.

Imprisonment

If you don't toe the line, then you become a national security threat. A political prisoner. They'll execute you with children watching. A man died while his body was leaning against my back in a prison cell in my first imprisonment in North Korea.

Finding God

It was during my 4th imprisonment – when I was arrested at an American school in Shanghai and expected I would be executed. I was crying every night in Shanghai international prison. There was a South Korean in my cell who looked like a real gangster. He was reading the Bible every night and he brought it to me. You could read this and pray to God for your survival, he said. I looked at him with strange eyes and thought: Who is this crazy gangster? But I decided I had nothing to lose.

Prayer and salvation

I didn't know how to pray so asked the gangster guy. You say AMEN at the end of your wishes, he told me. So, I prayed: GOD, I DON'T WANT TO BE KILLED. AMEN! That was my first prayer. Later I prayed: If your reality exists in this world, you be my freedom and I'll devote the rest of my life to you. A decision was taken NOT to execute me due to international pressure. I now believe it was a Miracle.

Suffering

Suffering does not destroy faith - it strengthens it. Sometimes I am grateful for it. Even in the darkest places, the light shines through. Those who have the faith realise NOTHING can compare to that.

Forgiveness

When I thought of my captors, I recalled Jesus on the cross and what he said. Father, they do not know what they are doing. Forgive them. This is how I feel.

UK political activity

Since coming to the UK, I’ve become involved with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea and stood for English local election 3 times. I'm the Open Doors UK Spokesperson for North Korea. I advise on how to speak on behalf of the persecuted. I’ve visited 49 UK universities where my focus is on freedom of speech – given my experience of totalitarianism, which is the opposite.

Democracy

The UK is not perfect, but I still regard it as one of the finest democracies. In North Korea there is a 149% election turnout! Everyone has the vote. But there is only 1 candidate - and if you don't vote you end up in prison.

The ‘servant heart’

Had I not been a Christian, I’m not sure I would have entered politics. Anything I've achieved in politics is because I was able to bring my ‘servant heart’.

Freedom of speech

While canvassing for the 2021 UK election, a woman looked at my rosette as I stood on her doorstep and shouted at me: Your party leader is a dictator! She shouted for 20 minutes and I stood and listened to every single word. In North Korea, she would have been executed. Finally, she wanted to know why I had listened to all that (most people would not have!). I explained my background and she was actually crying. She said she'd never in her life voted for my party but that she would vote for me. All of this is only possible because we are in a democratic, free-speaking country.

Call to action

We need to see Kim Jong Un pressurised about how he is perceived internationally. We need our stories shared. We need Christians to speak up.