Holy Smoke

Escaping the atheist hell of North Korea


Listen Later

For 75 years, the most anti-Christian regime in modern history has thrown its citizens into prison camps if they are suspected of the slightest dissent. Ten per cent of people live in modern slavery; perhaps 200,000 are behind bars. I'm talking about North Korea, of course – a regime even more abhorrent than Stalinist Russia, but which attracts suspiciously little attention from Western governments and churches unless they feel threatened by its nuclear arsenal. 

My guest in this episode of Holy Smoke is Timothy Cho, a Christian human rights activist who escaped from North Korea. Even as a child, he was sentenced to forced labour for the crime of watching a James Bond film. In school he was subjected to hysterical anti-Christian propaganda, but found his faith when he was thrown into a Chinese jail. (North Korean refugees are routinely rounded up by Beijing, which then returns them to the Kim family's giant prison camp.) 

Listen to his extraordinary testimony, and then ask yourself: why are Western governments so relaxed about the human rights abuses of this diabolical regime?

Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.


For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts.


Contact us: [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Holy SmokeBy The Spectator

  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6

4.6

123 ratings


More shows like Holy Smoke

View all
Daily Politics from the New Statesman by The New Statesman

Daily Politics from the New Statesman

149 Listeners

First Things Podcast by First Things

First Things Podcast

718 Listeners

The Book Club by The Spectator

The Book Club

83 Listeners

Best of the Spectator by The Spectator

Best of the Spectator

185 Listeners

Coffee House Shots by The Spectator

Coffee House Shots

175 Listeners

Americano by The Spectator

Americano

264 Listeners

The spiked podcast by The spiked podcast

The spiked podcast

210 Listeners

TRIGGERnometry by TRIGGERnometry

TRIGGERnometry

2,241 Listeners

The Brendan O'Neill Show by The Brendan O'Neill Show

The Brendan O'Neill Show

372 Listeners

The Edition by The Spectator

The Edition

59 Listeners

Table Talk by The Spectator

Table Talk

11 Listeners

The Daily T by The Telegraph

The Daily T

134 Listeners

Reality Check by The Spectator

Reality Check

1 Listeners

Planet Normal by The Telegraph

Planet Normal

180 Listeners

The Rest Is History by Goalhanger

The Rest Is History

15,837 Listeners

UnHerd with Freddie Sayers by UnHerd

UnHerd with Freddie Sayers

218 Listeners

Maiden Mother Matriarch with Louise Perry by Louise Perry

Maiden Mother Matriarch with Louise Perry

286 Listeners

Quite right! by The Spectator

Quite right!

53 Listeners