The Koreans of North Korea

The Koreans of North Korea, numbering approximately 26,120,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula, today forming the dominant populations of South Korea and North Korea, with a large global diaspora. They mostly adhere to Agnosticism and Korean is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Korean

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: East Asian Peoples
Country: North Korea
People Cluster: Korean
Primary Language(s): Korean (kor)
Primary Religion(s): Agnosticism
Population: 26,120,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG007583
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Koreans of North Korea

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Agnosticism
Religious Affiliation: Unaffiliated

95%
%
Agnosticism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Korean
Language Family: Koreanic

100%
%
Korean Speakers

Media Resources in Korean:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

4 films

Bible Resources in Korean:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Korean Bible Version✓
Korean Revised✓
New Korean Revised Version✓
Chosun Bible✓✓✓
Sanuri Bible✓

5 entries

Or check out the Korean bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Koreans are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Koreans:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Koreans of North Korea

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
readMatthew 28:16-20

Pray that those who don't yet know Him will encounter the risen Savior and be transformed by the power of His resurrection, becoming disciples who make disciples.

More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
readRomans 5:11

Pray for the gospel to advance and for more people to be brought into God's family through the reconciliation Jesus offers them.

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
read2 Corinthians 12:10

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will embrace their weaknesses, hardships, and difficulties, having hope because Christ's power is made perfect in their weakness.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
readJohn 1:9-10

Pray for those God might send to share the gospel here. Ask that they will grow closer to Jesus and be compelled to share His good news with people who don't know it.

Korean Across Countries (ROP3 - 105225) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

35 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
KoreansKoreansSouth Korea50,280,000No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansNorth Korea26,120,000Engaged yet UnreachedKoreanAgnosticism
KoreansKoreansChina2,460,000Engaged yet UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansUnited States1,095,000No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansJapan795,000Engaged yet UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansUzbekistan257,000No Longer UnreachedRussianAtheism
KoreansKoreansRussian Federation182,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianAtheism
KoreansKoreansAustralia167,000No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansCanada163,000No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansKazakhstan133,000No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansBrazil48,500No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansGermany45,000No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansUnited Kingdom41,000No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansNew Zealand38,000No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansMozambique36,500No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansArgentina35,000No Longer UnreachedKoreanUnaffiliated
KoreansKoreansFrance29,000No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansSingapore24,500No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansThailand20,500No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansMadagascar18,500No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansIran17,500No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansGuatemala15,500No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansNetherlands8,800Engaged yet UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansHong Kong8,600No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansParaguay8,000No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansTaiwan7,000No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansTurkmenistan5,300No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansGuam4,300No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansKyrgyzstan4,100No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansSpain2,900No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansMongolia2,800Engaged yet UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansNorthern Mariana Islands1,600No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansDominican Republic750No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansPanama325No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansHonduras150No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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