Based on extracts from his speeches throughout his life
Part 40
Earlier installments are available for reading.
Suffering in Pyongyang Prison and Hungnam Labor Camp
Feeling in debt to others
During my time in Hungnam, some men became my followers. Some of them would hide packets of rice powder in smelly holes or gaps where they would be unlikely to be discovered and would share them with me later. Those meals left me with more unforgettable memories than luxurious banquets would.
Some inmates would signal me with their eyes from around the corner of the prison toilet. They would say, I felt sorry about eating this alone, so I have brought you some. Teacher, you surely know that I want to share this with you at lunchtime, don’t you?
Moving experiences of sharing rice powder brought tears to my eyes and left such a deep impression on me that I have never forgotten them. On the morning of my birthday, a person from Pyongyang who knew came up to me and gave me a bowl of rice powder he had kept. I will remember this as long as I live.
I have never forgotten, even once, the experiences I’ve had, or when and in which prison they took place. I have to reciprocate to remove this debt from my life. If you think in this way, no debts will remain. Even if the person who had done me a kindness were no longer here, I would establish a greater condition and repay the debt through another person. When I die, I don’t want to carry any debts into my grave. This is my philosophy and outlook on life.
Survival required a public mindset
I had to survive it by all means. To survive, I had to go through a course in which I was willing to die. We did hard, forced labor, yet I became the prison’s model worker. That was the secret of my survival. There were not just dozens of workers; rather there were close to 1,000 workers there. Even from among that number our jailors chose me as the worker with the best results. Do you think that was easy to accomplish? That is how I survived. By taking this kind of path, I was able to work toward the fulfillment of the Will. Where is the leader who will overcome the obstacles of restoration, filled with bitter sorrow? I took responsibility to digest everything—the sorrows of the people, God’s bitter grief resulting from the failures of world Christianity, and all related difficulties. As God’s co-worker, I stood on His side and recreated my path. I organized the ideal Christian cultural sphere that could resonate with my mission from God.
Honored as a model prisoner
I have never failed to accomplish my responsibility. When I was in prison, I received special treatment from the head of the prison. He never said anything to me, but he watched me with an expression of admiration.
I made a science out of how to tie a bag, carry it, and load it onto the train. I designed the most efficient method to accomplish these tasks. Therefore, when I worked I did not have to think about what I was doing, but was free to think of other things. I was making plans for the future, thinking about the nation and the world. While I formulated such plans, I often lost track of time and the working hours flew by. Consequently, even though I was sweating as much as the others, I did not feel exhausted.
Working in this way was mentally empowering. Every time they gave out the awards, I received the award for being the model worker. I was the champion laborer at the fertilizer factory in Hungnam. Because of that, all the prisoners followed me around. Every morning, the guards organized us into teams for work. We were not allowed to work with the same people every day so that we could not plan an escape. So, when the time came to organize teams, if, for instance, I had gone to the toilet, others waited for me to come back and then lined up behind me. In this situation, all the best workers ended up joining my team and I became their leader.
If a person can’t be a savior in prison, he would be a fraud if he called himself a savior in a time of tranquility. I know that one man who was in Hungnam has written a book in which he calls me “the saint of the prison.”[1] Prison is not something I fear. No matter how merciless the beatings may have been, or how harsh the environment, it could not conquer the heart that is centered on love. It could not break the heart that called out to God, to the Father, and sought to live for His sake. Based on that energy, I was able to lay a foundation for the solid liberation of the vertical dimension.
Witnessing through spiritual phenomena
In those difficult prison conditions, even though I asked God not to help me, He was always there. Under challenging circumstances, a prepared environment existed. Of course, a lot depended on my own resolve, but I clearly recognized that God had prepared the environment for me.
In the depth of the prison was God’s infinite comfort. In the silence deep in the night or even in the desperation of what might be my final breath, God always extended His hand to me. In the intensity of all this, God’s guidance was always there. To put it briefly, because of this, some viewed me with suspicion. In the most difficult and serious place, I can meet God. That is the most hidden and secret place.
While in prison, I had to indemnify the faithlessness of Jesus’ disciples. With the help of those in the spiritual world, I managed to witness to twelve disciples, and through that, I could initiate a new future. The spirit world is the archangelic realm. Because the archangel didn’t accomplish his mission, Adam couldn’t attain the glorious realm and establish the proper relationship, so those in the spirit world had no alternative other than to help me. At the time of Elijah, God sent crows to bring Elijah food, but to me, God sent people.
My prison number was 596, which has a similar sound [in Korean] to the word “mistreated.” Someone’s ancestor would appear in a dream, instructing him not to eat the rice powder he had received but to give it to prisoner 596 in such and such a room. At first, the prisoner would refuse to follow the order. After a second, and a third dream, the ancestor would grab him by the neck and demand, Will you do it or not? The prisoner would have no choice.
Through phenomena of that kind, I gained a number of disciples. If I had spoken, I would have convinced more people. Some of you may know that a number of secret disciples, such as Park Chung-hwa and Kim Won-duk, came to me through heavenly guidance. They were people who would do anything I asked. They would place their lives on the line. If I had said, Let’s break out of here, they were the kind of people who would have tried.
Restoration of the Christian foundation
When Jesus was made to walk the path of death, the people and even his three beloved disciples betrayed him. That is why, according to the principle of restoration through indemnity, when I was in the labor camp I had to restore the number 12 through indemnity—the same number as the 12 disciples that Jesus had lost. Since I was in such a position, even though I did not witness at all while I was in the Hungnam labor camp, people in the spirit world that belonged to the realm of the Second Israel witnessed to 12 inmates so that they would follow me and fulfill that number. Such was the historical connection I experienced. Even while the communists had me under the strictest surveillance in prison, God took responsibility to secretly organize people who united in heart with me. All this was unknown to anyone else. While there, I could not witness openly. Yet, even when I stayed silent, the spirit world witnessed to people for me.
I spent two years and eight months in Pyongyang Prison and Hungnam Prison in North Korea. This corresponded to the three years of Jesus’ public life. While there, I was able to restore more than 12 people. By doing so, I restored all the conditions that Jesus had lost. Even though most of them did not follow me to the end, when I was freed from prison I gave other people their positions. Since I had completed all that I had planned to do, Heaven directed the United States, the archangel nation, and UN troops to attack North Korea in order to liberate me. That was how I came out of prison. Four people continued to follow me at the time. The UN troops protected South Korea. This set a global condition for heavenly fortune to come back to the democratic world, and the work of restoring Christianity could be launched.
To be continued.
[1] Kim In-ho in the book 서울로 오는길 (The Road to Seoul), which does not [yet] exist in English