03/31/2025 Washington, D.C. (International Christian Concern) – Ever since the earliest days of the church, believers have faced the wrath of tyrants who feel threatened by the power of the gospel. For centuries, governments have come and gone, fruitlessly attempting to squash the spread of Christianity along the way.
The Korean church is no stranger to these efforts.
In the early 1900s, Japan occupied Korea and imposed many requirements on the Korean people to replace Korean culture with Japanese. Among these requirements was the order for Christians to pay their respects at Shinto shrines.
This was a line that many believers were unwilling to cross, including a Presbyterian minister named Chu Ki-Chol. From his pulpit in Pyongyang, Chu repeatedly denounced these requirements as forced idolatry. As an outspoken critic of the new Japanese policies, Chu was arrested in 1938. For several months, he endured torture behind bars and was removed from his ministry position upon his eventual release.
Yet, even with the threat of more jail time looming, Chu was undeterred. Shortly after his release, he delivered a sermon titled “Determination for Death,” where he emphasized the importance of faith over nationalism.
In the coming years, Chu was imprisoned several times with his final arrest unfolding in 1940. A Japanese pastor planted by the government spoke in Chu’s church, noting that it was acceptable for Christians to worship at Shinto sites. Chu then confronted the pastor, publicly embarrassing him and those encouraging this Japanese custom.
In retaliation, Chu was again arrested, his family was expelled from the church grounds, and the church was shut down.
During his final prison stay, Chu endured beatings and other forms of torture for nearly four years. The brutality left Chu frail and he was taken to the prison’s hospital wing where he eventually succumbed to the years of abuse. In his dying breath, Chu reportedly uttered, “God of my soul, hold me firm.”
Nearly a century later and believers in North Korea are still suffering under the oppression of tyrants who are grasping for control at all costs. Yet, we know that these despots will only sit on their earthly thrones for so long.
Thankfully, we can rest assured that Jesus will remain on his throne forever and, like Chu knew well in his final moments, he will hold us firm.
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