Critics say that America has lost their first cyberwar after Sony Pictures pulled the movie “The Interview” after repeated cyber attacks by North Korean hackers.
“No one should kid themselves. With the Sony collapse America has lost its first cyberwar. This is a very very dangerous precedent,” former House speaker Newt Gingrich said after Sony’s announcement.
Sony pulled the film…a comedy film about two bumbling reporters that assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il…even though it was due to open in theaters in just over a week.
The hackers had threatened to have “9/11 style attacks” on theaters in the U.S. that showed the movie. The threats caused the five biggest movie chains in the country to say they were not going to show the film because of fears of incidents.
President Obama addressed the matter in a Wednesday interview.
“The cyber attack is very serious. We’re investigating, we’re taking it seriously,” Obama said during the interview. “We’ll be vigilant, if we see something that we think is serious and credible, then we’ll alert the public. But for now, my recommendation would be that people go to the movies.”
The Department of Homeland Security says there is no credible threat against any movie theater in the U.S.
An American missionary who had been held for two years in a North Korean labor camp was suddenly released Saturday.
Bae spoke to reporters and gave praise to God and credit to the millions who have been praying for him during his captivity for being a Christian.
“I just want to say thank you all for supporting me and lifting me up and not forgetting,” Bae said at a news conference at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. “Thank you for all your support and prayer and love. It’s really been encouraging for me and for others.”
Bae had been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for plotting to overthrow the government. The North Korean government considers spreading the gospel an attempt to overthrow the government.
Bae’s family said the first thing he asked for was “pizza or burgers, anything but Korean because he’d been eating that for two years.”
North Korea surprised the world by releasing an American Christian who had been held illegally in the country for the last six months.
Jeffrey Fowle, who had forgotten his Bible in the bathroom of a restaurant, has been held since mid-May on charges that he was using his tourist visa as a way to commit Christian proselytization.
“We can confirm that Jeffrey Fowle has been allowed to depart the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] and is on his way home to re-join his family,” U.S. State Department Spokesperson Marie Harf said in a statement on Tuesday.
Fowle spoke to reporters last month and said that while he was good his situation was getting desperate.
The White House said that while they were very happy for Fowle’s release, they are still demanding the release of two other captured Americans, Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller.
Two American missionaries that have been imprisoned in North Korea for their faith were brought out for a “press conference” designed to have the government generate propaganda.
Kenneth Bae and Jeffrey Fowle were given five minutes with a reporter to send messages to friends and family along with pleading for the U.S. government to take steps to free them.
“Right now, what I can say to my friends and family is continue to pray for me and continue in efforts in getting me released from here,” Bae told reporter Will Ripley. Bae has been facing a sentence of 15 year hard labor for “hostile acts to bring down the government” although those “hostile acts” were never presented to anyone.
“The only hope that I have is to have someone from the U.S. comes,” Bae said. “But so far, the latest I’ve heard is that there has been no response yet. So I believe that officials here are waiting for that.”
Bae’s family says he’s suffering from diabetes along with heart and liver problems.
Fowle told reporters that within a month he could be sharing Bae’s cell at the labor camp. He said his treatment so far has been “good” although he was speaking with North Korean officials sitting beside him.
Relatives of Kenneth Bae, an American missionary who is wrongfully imprisoned in North Korea, say that his health is failing and that North Korean authorities are endangering his life.
Bae has been suffering from liver problems and the North Korean government has not been providing him with adequate health care. The authorities continue to send Bae to hard labor camps instead of hospitals where American officials have been told he will be transferred.
His family and friends say that the North Korean government has still not shown any evidence to back up their claims he was committing “hostile acts to bring down the government.” An associate says the only possible thing that happened in Bae took pictures of something he shouldn’t have seen.
“The most plausible scenario I can think of is that he took some picture of orphans and the North Korean authorities considered that an act of anti-north Korean propaganda,” Do Hee-youn of the Citizens Coalition for Human Rights of North Korean Refugees told Christian News.
The State Department says they continue to be “gravely concerned” about Bae’s health.
An American Christian is facing trial in North Korea on charges that he was trying to undermine the country’s government.
His crime? He left a Bible in his hotel room after he and his tour group checked out to head back to America.
Jeffrey Fowle, 56, is being charged with leaving the Bible in his room, which is “inconsistent with the purpose of a tourist visit.” The North Korean government has not officially named charges against Fowle, just stating he will be tried for leaving behind the Bible.
“The significance of these arrests and trials cannot be overstated: North Korea is choosing to publicly blame Christian missionaries for its human rights problems and internal difficulties,” Seoul USA CEO Pastor Eric Foley told The Christian Post. “There are important lessons to be learned from the arrests by Christians seeking to reach North Korea in the future. Now is not the time to comment on the strategies of those being detained. But what we can conclude with certainty is that there is no ‘back door’ into North Korea – no strategy for sharing the gospel there that does not involve paying the highest of personal prices. This is what North Korean underground Christians have known and practiced for years.”
A spokesman for Fowle’s family said that he was not in North Korea on any kind of church mission. They denied there was anything that he could have done to “confirm suspicions” of undermining the government as claimed by North Korean prosecutors.
The U.S. State Department has repeatedly warned American citizens traveling to North Korea that they could be detained for any reason and imprisoned without trial or charge. The U.S. does not have diplomatic relations with North Korea.
An American tourist in North Korea was detained Friday for “hostile activities” after he left a Bible in his room after checking out.
Jeffrey Edward Fowle is now the third American being held captive by North Korea’s oppressive regime.
The official Korean Central News Agency said that Fowle is being questioned for violating his tourism visa regulations.
“US citizen in custody for committing anti-DPRK (North Korea) hostile activities,” the report reads. “[Fowle] acted in violation of the DPRK (North Korea) law, contrary to the purpose of tourism during his stay. A relevant organ of the DPRK detained him and is investigating him.”
The U.S. Department of State has issued an official warning to Americans who want to visit North Korea. The warning reads in part that being a part of a tour with a North Korean tour guide does not guarantee you will not be detained and arrested by North Korean authorities for actions perfectly legal in the U.S. such as carrying a Bible.
A ministry that works with Christians in North Korea says that those in that country who follow Christ do not believe that their country is the worst in the world for Christians.
The Reverend Eric Foley says that North Koreans actually embrace their sufferings as a means to show their love and dedication to Christ.
“If you are a Christian in a country where no Christians are suffering for Jesus you probably ought to be more concerned than if you are a Christian in a country where nearly every Christian is suffering for Jesus,” he said. “Christians are ambassadors. If one truly understands one’s identity as an ambassador, one glories in that identity rather than grumbling about the country where one got posted.”
North Korea has been listed at number one on the Open Doors list most oppressive countries for Christians for the last 12 straight years.
North Korean Christians have told Open Doors that despite the persecution, God is moving strongly in their country.
“Of course God is at work! Of course prayers help. I am such a weak person. I hardly had any Bible knowledge, but God used me to explain the Gospel to others. Sometimes, God sent me on the road. I clothed my six-month-old baby, fastened him on the back and I walked for miles and miles and miles,” a refugee identified only as Hana told Open Doors. “Until I saw some stranger and I knew this was the person I needed to talk to. Because of him or her God had sent me out on the road. I said what I needed to say and went home. Do you think that would be possible without God? Please, tell your friends that they need to continue to pray. God is answering their prayers.”
A South Korean missionary arrested in North Korea on charges of spying and setting up a network of underground churches has been sentenced to life at hard labor.
Kim Jung-wook was sentenced after a trial where North Korean authorities claim he admitted to “committing anti-North Korean religious acts” and “malignantly hurting the dignity” of ruler Kim Jong-Un.
According to North Korean state media, Jung-wook had a defense attorney but there were no details about whether a defense was actually provided during the trial that international observers called a sham.
Kim Jung-wook had been arrested last October after he entered North Korea from China. When he lived in China, he had been instrumental in helping North Korean Christians escape to South Korea. He had crossed into North Korea to learn about food storages and was caught by authorities.
Prosecutors presented what they called evidence of his actions including religious books. The court could have sentenced the missionary to death but decided to issue the life sentence.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has told the State Department they need to add eight countries to the list of “countries of particular concern” where severe violations of religious freedom are taking place.
The group is calling for Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Vietnam to be added to the list that already includes Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan.
“With religious freedom abuses occurring daily around the world,” USCIRF Chairman Robert George wrote, “the United States must by words and deeds stand in solidarity with the persecuted.”
The announcement is the 15th from the group since they were founded in 1998. The commission often travels to foreign nations to study the levels of religious freedom in countries and to determine levels of persecution.
Christian persecution advocacy group Open Doors said that all of the countries on the proposed list are in their top 50 worldwide for Christian persecution and 11 were in the top 15.
