North Korean God(s) : the role of religion in the urban sustainability of Pyongyang

This chapter presents an overview of religious life in the North Korean capital. Far from being extraordinary, new religious policies reflected changes in both the Soviet Union and China. North Korean authorities concluded that it was better to nationalize religion and use it for political purposes than oppose it. Although changes began with international politics in mind, they had local consequences. From the late-1980s, several new religious sites were opened in North Korea, the most famous examples of which were three Christian churches constructed in Pyongyang. Even if it was on a limited scale, the re-creation of a religious landscape in North Korea supported urban sustainability by creating new places of leisure and a new labor sector, reviving the city’s tourist potential, and integrating local as well as expatriate populations. However, because of the numerous limitations and high entry requirements that the government placed on religious organizations, those objectives-along with the attempt to create a more international and religiously diverse Pyongyang-generally failed.