Christians to fast and pray for North Korea ahead of Trump-Kim meeting

The statues of Kim Il Sung (left) and Kim Jong Il on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang, North Korea.Wikimedia Commons/J.A. de Roo

A Christian organization is calling on believers around the world to participate in the International Day of Prayer and Fasting for North Korea on April 28 in anticipation of the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

In a recent interview with The Christian Post, Suzanne Scholte, chairman of the North Korea Freedom Coalition, has warned that Kim might not take any action to improve the human rights condition in his country even as he expects to gain favorable negotiations with Trump. She went as far as to say that Kim's leadership is a "satanic, cult-like regime" that cannot be trusted.

In North Korea, it is compulsory for citizens to practice the ideology of Juche, in which the Kim family are worshipped as gods. Scholte believes that the only way to defeat the regime is through spiritual warfare.

"This actually came from a congressional international religious freedom caucus briefing in January where the foremost expert of Juche, which is really the religion of North Korea, said to combat the demonic principalities in North Korea, we need to not only pray, but we need to fast," she told CBN News.

The day of prayer will mark the beginning of North Korea Freedom Week, which is aimed at highlighting the human rights abuses committed in the Communist country.

The organizers of the week-long event decided on the theme "Truth Will Set Them Free," after they heard the testimonies of North Korean defectors sharing the view that the country can only be changed through the Gospel.

"They kept telling us that if you want to change North Korea, you need to get the truth. When they find out he's not God and find out about the one true God, it changes everything," Scholte said, as reported by CBN News.

Trump is expected to meet with Kim in May or June to negotiate the end of North Korea's nuclear program.

Apart from the meeting with Trump, North Korean leaders are also in discussion with South Koreans about the prospect of peace between the two nations and a historic meeting was held this week between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Scholte believes that the U.S. should be firm in negotiations with the Kim regime. "We should at the very least be demanding that he release the prisoners, the Americans that he's holding, most of whom are Christians," she said.

She also said that the demands should include the discontinuation of the regime's practice of torturing North Koreans who try to escape from the country.

Scholte noted that no one knows exactly how North Korean leaders will respond to the demands, but she maintained that "with God all things are possible."