Why North Korean Bible?
Significant differences in language used by North and South Koreans have since risen the Korean War in 1950 and 70 years of separation that followed.
We have asked a small group of North Korean defectors to read Easy Bible (Agape Publishing)—a modern Korean translation. What we have learned is that there are a significant number of words in the Bible the readers from North Korea are unfamiliar with. Many of these words were Sino-Korean origin and are not part of everyday language in North Korea.
The disparity in the Korean language between North and South Koreas traces back to North Korea’s Language Revolution that began in 1960s. In the language reform Sino-Korean and other foreign loanwords were replaced with Korean words as a compulsory government mandate.
In addition, there are significant spelling differences between the two Korean languages. For example, the word for the word ‘woman’ in North Korean is 녀인 whereas the same word in South Korean is 여인.
Our North Korean Translation
In our God’s Promises: English-North Korean Bilingual Bible, use of Sino-Korean and South Korean words in Bibles have been replaced with standard North Korean diction. Instead of referring to New Testament using the word 신약 (新约) as it is done in other Korean translations, for example, our translation reads “God’s Promises After Jesus” in Korean.
So why is there a need for a North Korean Bible? We believe there is a strong and present need for North Korean Bible translations that communicate the Good News of Jesus without the unnecessary linguistic hurdles getting in the way. Please read about our mission of providing Bible and other biblical literature to present the Good News to people of North Korea.