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

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRomans 6:23

Pray that those who do know about God's free gift will hear and believe that the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord and that they will joyfully accept this gift.

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.’ In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
readJob 1:20-22

Pray that those who mourn will worship God in the midst of their suffering and loss, recognizing He is the source of all good things and that He is worthy of their praise and trust.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
readJohn 14:3

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have hope in trials because they know that Jesus will one day take them to be with Him forever.

He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.
readJohn 1:7

Pray that God will raise up witnesses to testify about Jesus so that all might believe, knowing that He is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

35 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
KoreansKoreansSouth Korea50,290,000No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansNorth Korea26,120,000Engaged yet UnreachedKoreanAgnosticism
KoreansKoreansChina2,460,000Engaged yet UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansUnited States1,100,000No 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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