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Late at night in a cramped apartment block, a teenager hides under a blanket with a small, smuggled device. A TV show flickers on the screen. For a few stolen minutes, the young girl glimpses another world filled with laughter, color—and freedom. Then she remembers where she lives and quickly switches off the device and hides it again. And the gray reality of life under one of the world's most repressive regimes closes in.
This is the life of a young person in North Korea.
"If this task is postponed or neglected, the church’s vitality will weaken, and the loss will be irreparable."
North Korean believer
Today's North Korean youth live in a three-pronged tug-of-war between competing influences: their government's strict control; the allure of forbidden pop culture; and the search for meaning through superstition or hidden faith. To understand them, we must recognize the multiple forces pulling at their hearts and minds.
Despite harsh penalties, South Korean media slips across the border through USB sticks, SD cards, and MP4 players. For many young people, these shows and songs offer a glimpse of life beyond the barbed wire of their nation. They see trendy clothes, bustling cities, romance, and friendships that look strikingly like their own—yet the people on the screen live in freedom.
Clearly, North Korean authorities know how dangerous such images can be. In recent years, the regime has tightened punishments for owning or sharing foreign media. Youth caught singing K-pop lyrics or even mimicking clothing styles seen in dramas risk loss of school placement, detention, or more mandatory public criticism sessions ("life review" meetings where citizens engage in public self-criticism and criticize one another). These sessions are a fundamental tool of social control used by the regime.
Yet the hunger for another vision of life remains strong. For some, this secret exposure becomes a seed of hope: Life could be different.
Against this backdrop of curiosity stands the heavy hand of the state. Every school, youth organization and neighborhood committee exists to enforce loyalty to the ruling Kim family. From an early age, children are indoctrinated—required to memorize ideological slogans, participate in ceremonies and report on each other.
North Korean youth grow up under constant surveillance. Teachers, peers and even relatives can become informants. In such an environment, trust is fragile and genuine self-expression is dangerous.
The regime's goal is clear: to shape not only outward behavior but inner thought. Those who deviate risk punishment not only for themselves but also for their families. This oppression- and fear-based culture, along with its zero tolerance and severe punishment of Christianity and other religions, has given North Korea the rank of No. 1 on Open Doors' World Watch List.
But when official ideology fails to provide hope, many North Korean young people turn elsewhere. For a generation facing economic crisis, food shortages and uncertain futures, superstition offers the illusion of control. Reports indicate a growing reliance on fortune tellers and superstitious practices among the country's youth. Astrologers, palm readers and shamans—despite being illegal—are thriving in quiet corners of society.
A whispered prediction about marriage, work, or health feels more practical than government slogans. The persistence of these practices shows the deep hunger for guidance in a country where truth is censored, and the future is bleak.
North Korean Christians are especially concerned about these forces pulling at the next generation. North Korean Christians have shared stories with Open Doors, saying they were unable to speak about their faith with their young children. Most parents must wait until their children are old enough to keep the family secret. Meanwhile, in their silence, their children are exposed to the state ideology, K-pop culture, and dangerous spiritual influences.
"The future of the underground church depends on the next generation," says our Open Doors team who leads our efforts to pray for and support North Korean Christians through our networks outside the country. "Our mission as Christians is to raise the next generation in the faith and to strengthen them."
One North Korean Christian says reaching the next generation and raising up capable leaders are the biggest needs: "We hope to nurture them so that they can fulfill their God-given purpose and mission."
Despite the difficulties that believers like him face, he's committed to investing in the next generation. "We continue to advance the ministry entrusted to us," he says. "A leader who genuinely cares about and takes responsibility for the future of the church will devote him or herself wholeheartedly to raising the next generation. The time and effort invested in this will surely bear good fruit. However, if this task is postponed or neglected, the church's vitality will weaken, and the loss will be irreparable and impossible to compensate for. Therefore, we will work our best to fulfill this task diligently."
North Korean youth today represent both vulnerability and possibility. Vulnerability, because they are exposed to poverty, indoctrination and deception. Possibility, because seeds planted now—whether through culture, superstition, or faith—will shape the future of the nation.
The underground church recognizes this. In secret, believers pray for their children and grandchildren to remain faithful. Field workers risk everything to disciple young visitors who briefly cross the border, and global Christians are called to stand with them.
God, we pray for the youth of North Korea. We pray that the allure of false hopes—whether in propaganda or superstition—will fade and that seeds of truth, planted through hidden Scripture and the faithful witness of parents, will take root. We pray for a day when the rising generation of North Koreans will no longer live under fear, but will be free to seek truth, to dream and to openly worship God.
