Credit: ChinaAid
Along the North Korean border, dozens of missionaries are engaged in work that puts them and their North Korean converts in danger. In recent years, 10 such front-line missionaries and pastors have died mysteriously, according to the Rev. Kim Kyou Ho, head of the Seoul-based Chosen People Network, a Christian group that runs a memorial hall in the South Korean capital for the victims. North Korea is suspected in all those deaths, Associated Press reports:
Hundreds of other missionaries have been imprisoned or expelled by China, which bans foreigners from proselytizing. It is perilous work. Li Baiguang (above), a Chinese human rights lawyer whose work defending Christian pastors and farmers had prompted repeated death threats, died on Feb. 26, hours after being admitted to a Chinese military hospital for what his relatives described as a minor stomach ailment.
The case has prompted calls for an independent investigation from Amnesty International and the Washington-based National Endowment for Democracy, AP adds, which noted Li had been “detained and physically attacked many times” for his work and cited reports he had recently appeared to be in good health.
