Free Republic

How could the country that is now the foremost persecutor of Christians in the world have emerged from the work of a dedicated Christian missionary? Jonathan Cheng’s history of North Korea, "Korean Messiah," sets out to explain... Samuel Moffett, a Presbyterian missionary who arrived in ‘the Hermit Kingdom’ of Korea in 1890, built a vast mission compound in Pyongyang. His ministry helped spark the great Christian revival of 1907, which led to Pyongyang being called the ‘Jerusalem of the East’ with great churches and crowded Wednesday prayer meetings. Moffett ran a world-class seminary, and his theology carried a message of...

A Russian cargo vessel suspected of carrying components for two nuclear submarine reactors, possibly destined for North Korea, sank in the Mediterranean Sea under mysterious circumstances in December 2024, according to a CNN investigation published today. The Ursa Major (also known as Sparta 3), a heavy-lift ship linked to Russia’s “shadow fleet” and previously used in military operations in Syria, went down approximately 60 miles (about 100 km) off the coast of Spain near Cartagena on December 23, 2024. The sinking followed a series of explosions that killed two crew members and left 14 others rescued by Spanish authorities. Spanish...

In today’s world, there are 193 countries in the UN. The large majority of those countries will vote consistently against the United States on measures that come before the General Assembly. Then again, the international system that counts is not the UN, but rather the U.S.-led commercial and legal order of alliances and trade. Almost all of the 193 UN member countries participate willingly in that system, to their great benefit. They may oppose the U.S. on many issues, and they may have disputes with their immediate neighbors, but they don’t make themselves constant troublemakers threatening to disrupt world peace...

Canada's woke, female , DEI Minister of Defence announces the hiring of foreign nationals into the Canadian Military for the purpose of attacking and destroying provincial oil infrastructure , and the waging of war against its own citizens, especially in Alberta and Saskatchewan. This is a chilling move disguised from the public by military recruitment code numbers.Stirling Thomas does an incredibly accurate reveal as to where the tyrannical liberal elites are prepared to take Canada in order to preserve their protective tariff economy from being an open market, as well as preparations to have foreign military willing to wage war...

In yet another reckless move by the far-left Liberal government, Canada is now throwing open the doors of its military to foreign nationals, offering them a fast-track path to permanent residency.Under Prime Minister Mark Carney’s regime, skilled immigrants from around the world can now snag jobs in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) as doctors, nurses, or even pilots, and get expedited immigration status in return.

For the last 24 hours, I've had to listen, ad nauseam, to people debate and virtue-signal over the Super Bowl halftime show, and I'm over it. It was 15 minutes of our lives that we'll forget about next week. But the thing is, as annoying as it has been, none of us has died over it. You liked the Bad Bunny show? Great. You preferred the Turning Point USA (TPUSA) version? Good for you. You want to argue about it? Go for it. Donald Trump will never have you executed for watching, liking, disliking, or debating any of it. If...

The Xiaomi phone gifted by China’s President Xi Jinping previously made headlines when he jokingly asked his South Korean counterpart to “check if there is a backdoor”.South Korean President Lee Jae Myung snapped a selfie with Xi Jinping using a smartphone gifted to him by the Chinese leader, who had joked at their last meeting that the device might be capable of spying. Lee posted three selfies of himself, Xi and their wives on social media platform X on Monday (Jan 5) during his visit to Beijing. "A selfie with President Xi Jinping and his wife, taken with the Xiaomi...

Shenghua Wen, 42, received around $2 million (€1.7 million) from North Korean officials to ship firearms and ammunition from California. A Chinese national in California has been sentenced to eight years in prison for shipping firearms and ammunition to North Korea. North Korean officials paid Shenghua Wen around $2 million (€1.7 million) to ship two containers of weapons and other items from Long Beach in California to North Korea via Hong Kong in 2023, according to the US Attorney's Office in Los Angeles. The 42-year-old pleaded guilty in June to one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic...

When North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles from its eastern coast in May, South Korea’s response was swift. Within hours, Seoul joined Washington and Tokyo in condemning the launch as a “serious threat” to regional peace and security. But just weeks earlier, when a North Korean KN-23 missile – designed to strike South Korean targets – hit a residential building in Kyiv, killing 12 civilians, Seoul said nothing. That silence fits a broader pattern. There was no response when Russia reportedly deployed a surface-to-air missile system to protect Pyongyang, nor when Ukrainian intelligence revealed that Russian instructors were training North...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived on Friday in the coastal city of Wonsan, North Korea, according to RIA Novosti. The visit comes ahead of the second round of the strategic dialogue between Moscow and Pyongyang, with Lavrov scheduled to meet his North Korean counterpart, Choe Son Hui, to discuss bilateral ties. Earlier this week, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova announced the meeting would take place, adding that the first round of the dialogue took place in Moscow in January 2024.

Prosecutors in Toulouse, France, have requested a police investigation into the harassment of a South Korean livestreamer who was verbally abused while broadcasting in the city last week, an incident that has drawn widespread criticism in both South Korea and France. According to French news outlet Le Figaro on Sunday, Toulouse prosecutor David Charmatz said he has referred the case to the regional police department for investigation as a possible assault, which could involve racist and sexist motives. The incident occurred on May 7, when Yoo Yoon-jin, a South Korean content creator known online as Jinnytty, was livestreaming a walk...

In the wake of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, the regime appears to be turning inward — escalating repression with chilling speed. According to Kasra Aarabi, director of IRGC research at United Against Nuclear Iran, the Islamic Republic is accelerating toward what he said is a "North Korea-style model of isolation and control." "We’re witnessing a kind of domestic isolation that will have major consequences for the Iranian people," Aarabi told Fox News Digital. "The regime has always been totalitarian, but the level of suppression now is unprecedented. It’s unlike anything we’ve seen before." A source inside Iran...

In the early morning hours of Thursday, Syria’s al-Tala’i military research facility located in Masyaf was reduced to ash and flames. The Jerusalem Post reports that contemporaneous with the strike on al-Tala’I, a Hezbollah weapons convoy in the vicinity was also hit and destroyed. According to Western intelligence sources, al-Tala’i is a center for the production of chemical weapons. Syria blamed Israel and claimed that at least two regime soldiers were killed in the attack. The regime issued a banal and somewhat hypocritical warning of the “dangerous repercussions of this aggressive action to the security and stability of the region.”...

Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia’s Security Council, traveled to Pyongyang on Tuesday under the direct orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin, signaling a deepening of strategic military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. The visit, Shoigu's second in less than two weeks and third meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in just three months, comes as Moscow seeks to draw Pyongyang closer in its protracted war effort in Ukraine. Observers say the visit suggests a bid by Russia to leverage shifting global attention — particularly the West’s growing preoccupation with escalating tensions between Israel and Iran — to secure...

North Korea continues to advance its nuclear weapons and missile programs despite UN Security Council sanctions and high-level diplomatic efforts. The country’s ballistic missile testing, military parades, and policy statements suggest that North Korea is continuing to build a nuclear warfighting capability designed to evade regional ballistic missile defenses.North Korea has tested a nuclear explosive device six times since 2006. Each test produced underground blasts progressively higher in magnitude and estimated yield. North Korea conducted its most recent test on September 3, 2017. A North Korean press release stated it had tested a hydrogen bomb (or two-stage thermonuclear warhead) that...

President Donald Trump has an action-packed trip to Asia slated to begin Sunday, starting in Japan before heading to South Korea and China, then Vietnam and the Philippines. Ahead of this international tour, two U.S. strategic B-1B bombers conducted drills over South Korea. North Korea was quick to condemn that action. News of the drills was first reported by North Korean state news agency KCNA on Friday, which said the exercises involving South Korean and Japanese fighter jets were a “surprise nuclear strike drill”. “The reality clearly shows that the gangster-like U.S. imperialists are the very one who is aggravating...

It's understood that 100 people were trapped in underground tunnels, and a further collapse occurred during the rescue operation, suggesting that a total of 200 people may have been killed At least 200 people have been killed at Kim Jong-un's nuclear test site in North Korea after a tunnel collapsed. A news agency quoted a North Korean official as saying that a collapse occurred during the construction of an underground tunnel at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in the northeast of North Korea on October 10. According to the report, 100 people were trapped in underground tunnels, and a further...

A launch ceremony for a new North Korean naval destroyer went horribly wrong in front of 'supreme' leader Kim Jong Un, according to state media. Kim watched on in horror as the 5,000-ton ship was severely damaged after failing to launch properly. He declared the mishap a 'criminal act caused by absolute carelessness' that 'could not be tolerated'. -snip- In a statement KCNA said: 'Due to immature command and operational negligence, the parallel movement of the bogies could not be guaranteed, resulting in the launching sled in the stern detaching first and causing the ship to capsize. 'The ship's balance...

Join us as we travel to Pyongyang, North Korea and explore one of the most secretive and isolated countries on Earth 🇰🇵

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a ceremony for the launch of a “new multipurpose destroyer,” state media KCNA reported on Saturday. The 5,000-tonne warship was equipped with the “most powerful weapons” and built “within 400-odd days perfectly with our own strength and technology,” the report said, quoting Jo Chun Ryong, a secretary in the ruling Workers’ Party.