Editing North Korea (section)

=== Religion ===
{{Main|Religion in North Korea}}
[[File:Chilgol Church (15545529301).jpg|thumb|[[Chilgol Church]] in Pyongyang, where [[Kang Pan-sok]]—the mother of the late supreme leader Kim Il Sung—served as a [[Presbyterian]] [[deaconess]]]]

North Korea is officially an [[atheist state]].<ref name="Cavendish2007">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YG2AFyFppJQC&pg=PA933|year=2007|title=World and Its Peoples: Eastern and Southern Asia|publisher=[[Marshall Cavendish]]|quote=North Korea is officially an atheist state in which almost the entire population is nonreligious.|access-date = 20 May 2019|isbn=9780761476313}}</ref><ref name="PalmerOBrien1993">{{cite book|first1=Joanne|last1=O'Brien|first2=Martin|last2=Palmer|date=December 1993|url=https://archive.org/details/stateofreligiona00obri|url-access=registration|title=The State of Religion Atlas|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|quote=Atheism continues to be the official position of the governments of China, North Korea and Cuba.|access-date = 20 May 2019|isbn=9780671793760}}</ref> Its constitution guarantees [[Freedom of religion in North Korea|freedom of religion]] under Article 68, but this principle is limited by the requirement that religion may not be used as a pretext to harm the state, introduce foreign forces, or harm the existing social order.<ref name="naenara" />{{sfn|Boer|2019|p=216}} Religious practice is therefore restricted,{{Sfn|Country Study|2009|p=115}}<ref>{{cite web|date=July 2004|title=Human Rights in North Korea|url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/08/nkorea9040.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061201160439/http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/08/nkorea9040.htm |archive-date=1 December 2006 |access-date=2 August 2007|work=[[Human Rights Watch]]}}</ref> despite nominal constitutional protections.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Peoples_Republic_of_Korea_1998.pdf|title=Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea|access-date=6 January 2022|archive-date=17 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317094359/https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Peoples_Republic_of_Korea_1998.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Proselytizing is also prohibited due to concerns about foreign influence. The number of Christian churchgoers nonetheless more than doubled between the 1980s and the early 2000s due to the recruitment of Christians who previously worshipped privately or in small house churches.{{sfn|Boer|2019|p=233}} The [[Open Doors]] mission, a Protestant group based in the United States and founded during the Cold War era, claims the most severe [[persecution of Christians]] in the world occurs in North Korea.<ref name="opendoors">{{cite web|url=http://sb.od.org/index.php?supp_page=wwl_top_ten&supp_lang=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070622111852/http://sb.od.org/index.php?supp_page=wwl_top_ten&supp_lang=en|archive-date=22 June 2007|title=Open Doors International : WWL: Focus on the Top Ten|work=Open Doors International|publisher=Open Doors (International)|access-date=4 July 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref>

There are no known official statistics of religions in North Korea. According to a 2020 study published by the [[Centre for the Study of World Christianity]], 73% of the population are [[irreligion|irreligious]] (58% [[agnostic]], 15% [[atheist]]), 13% practice [[Cheondoism|Chondoism]], 12% practice [[Korean shamanism]], 1.5% are [[Korean Buddhism|Buddhist]], and less than 0.5% practice another religion such as [[Christianity in Korea|Christianity]], [[Islam in Korea|Islam]], or [[Chinese folk religion]].<ref>{{cite web |title=2020 Report on International Religious Freedom: Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-report-on-international-religious-freedom/north-korea/ |work=Office of International Religious Freedom |publisher=U.S. Department of State |access-date=10 July 2023 |archive-date=6 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606073904/https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-report-on-international-religious-freedom/north-korea/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Amnesty International has expressed concerns about religious persecution in North Korea.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa24/002/2009/en/|title=North Korea: Freedom of Movement, Opinion and Expression|access-date=4 March 2014|year=2009|work=[[Amnesty International]]|archive-date=31 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731213148/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/ASA24/002/2009/en/|url-status=live}}</ref> Pro-North groups such as the Paektu Solidarity Alliance deny these claims, saying that multiple religious facilities exist across the nation.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Freedom of Ideas and Religious Belief in DPRK|newspaper=Paektu Solidarity Alliance|date=19 February 2020|url=https://defendkorea.com/2020/02/19/freedom-of-ideas-and-religious-belief-in-dprk/|access-date=6 January 2022|archive-date=6 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220106171053/https://defendkorea.com/2020/02/19/freedom-of-ideas-and-religious-belief-in-dprk/|url-status=live}}</ref> Some religious places of worship are located in foreign embassies in the capital city of Pyongyang.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Inside North Korea's only Mosque During Eid al-Fitr|date=18 May 2021|url=https://www.nknews.org/2021/05/inside-north-koreas-only-mosque-during-eid-al-fitr/|access-date=6 January 2022|archive-date=18 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518074349/https://www.nknews.org/2021/05/inside-north-koreas-only-mosque-during-eid-al-fitr/|url-status=live}}</ref> Five Christian churches built with state funds stand in Pyongyang: three Protestant, one Roman Catholic, and one Russian Orthodox.{{sfn|Boer|2019|p=233}} Critics claim these are showcases for foreigners.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nautilus.org/fora/security/0434A_ReligionI.html|title=Annual Report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom |access-date=2 August 2007|author=United States Commission on International Religious Freedom|date=21 September 2004|work=[[Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability|Nautilus Institute]] | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070311032937/http://www.nautilus.org/fora/security/0434A_ReligionI.html| archive-date = 11 March 2007 |author-link=United States Commission on International Religious Freedom}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4431321.stm|title=N Korea stages Mass for Pope |access-date=2 August 2007|date=10 April 2005|work=[[BBC News]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307074443/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4431321.stm |archive-date=7 March 2008}}</ref>

Buddhism and [[Korean Confucianism|Confucianism]] still influence spirituality.{{sfn|Country Study|2009|p=14}} Chondoism ("Heavenly Way") is an indigenous [[syncretism|syncretic belief]] combining elements of Korean shamanism, Buddhism, [[Taoism in Korea|Taoism]] and [[Catholicism]] that is officially represented by the WPK-controlled [[Chondoist Chongu Party]].{{Sfn|Country Study|2009|p=120}} Chondoism is recognized and favored by the government, being seen as an indigenous form of "revolutionary religion".{{sfn|Boer|2019|p=216}}