The country is officially atheist, but allows for religious freedom under certain conditions, at least on paper.
By Son Hye Min for RFA Korean
North Koreans pray to Buddha statues for good luck Buddha statues are seen in Ryongtong temple in Ogwansan, Ryongtong Valley, North Korea on April 27, 2010.
Eric Lafforgue/Art In All Of Us/Corbis
Residents in North Korea are praying to small, handmade statues of Buddha for good fortune or hoping that they cancel out “bad luck,” residents told Radio Free Asia.
North Korea is officially an atheist state, but its constitution guarantees religious freedom under certain conditions: religious practice must not encourage foreign influence or harm the state or the social order, and yet, the ruling Kim Dynasty enjoys almost god-like status, bolstered by a deeply embedded cult of personality that goes back three generations.
But with so many people struggling to make a living under harsh economic conditions, some are turning to Buddha statues to give them luck.
“These days, in the apartment I live in, there are more people who buy Buddha statues that are a little bigger than the palm of your hand,” a resident of Songchon county in the western province of South Pyongan told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
“The Buddha statues are sold by a door-to-door salesman who goes around the apartments every morning,” she said. “The price of the Buddha statue is around 20,000 won,” or about US$1.17.
Eat less, pray more
The price for the statues might seem low to outsiders, but that’s an enormous sum of money in North Korea, equivalent to a little less than three kilograms (6.6 pounds) of rice.
“People who are struggling to make ends meet buy Buddha statues with the money they would otherwise spend on rice,” the resident said. “They believe that placing a Buddhist statue in the house will eliminate bad luck.”
Another resident, a woman in her 40s from the same province, told RFA under condition of anonymity that she recently bought a statue.
“I put it in my house and pray to it before going to the market,” she said. “I pray that it will keep the officials off my back and help me earn a lot of money.”
She said that the people who buy statues pray to remove misfortune in hopes of a better life.
“The statues are made at home by skilled workers who have spent a long time working in ceramics factories,” she said. “After digging up red clay and sculpting the Buddha figure by hand, they bake it in a small kiln installed in their homes, paint it yellow and gold, and then they are sold by the door-to-door salesman.”
Religion punished
Though North Korea is somewhat tolerant of Buddhism, it has very little tolerance for other major religions, including Christianity. In the past, Christianity had become so prevalent on the Korean Peninsula that Pyongyang was once called the “Jerusalem of the East.”
But now, if a North Korean is caught with a copy of the Bible, it’s not uncommon for the entire family to be put into a prison camp.
In its 2024 Annual Report published in May, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent organization under the U.S. government, recommended to the State Department to continue North Korea’s designation as a Country of Particular Concern.
The report noted that Christians were “especially vulnerable” to persecution, citing a 2023 South Korean government report that said North Korea considers Christians as “counter-revolutionaries” and “traitors” who must be eliminated.
“Simply being a Christian could lead to severe punishment, including torture, forced labor, imprisonment, and execution,” the report said, while also noting that information on religious freedom conditions for followers of other religions, including Buddhism and Catholocism, remains “severely limited.”
