North Korea defector reveals what it's like celebrating Christmas in country where it's banned

North Korea defector reveals what it's like celebrating Christmas in country where it's banned Il-yong Ju, who escaped from North Korea and spoke to Donald Trump about his journey, said his family put up and decorated a tree every December 25th. Image:North Korean children stand on the banks of the Yalu River that marks the border with China. File pic: Reuters Image:North Korean soldiers training after snowfall in North Hamgyong province. File pic: Reuters Image:Il-yong Ju, now free in South Korea, with a Christmas tree Image:Il-yong Ju decorates a Christmas tree Image:The Yalu river which marks the border between North Korea and China. Pic: AP Image:A drawing of North Korean labour camp no 18 by survivor Kim Hye Sook. Pic: Reuters Image:North and South Korean soldiers face off across the demilitarised zone at their shared border. Pic: Reuters Image:Il-yong Ju meeting Donald Trump in the Oval Office in 2019. Pic: AP Image:Il-yong Ju, seen standing at his laptop, in front the congregation at his church in Seoul, South Korea. Image:Il-yong Ju with a Christmas tree Thursday 25 December 2025 02:41, UK When Il-yong Ju was a child, something strange would happen in his tiny village in rural North Korea every December 25th. His grandfather would visit and send him out to the mountains to cut down a pine tree. He would bring it home and small balls of cotton were hung on its branches. In many countries, it's a familiar ritual: setting up and decorating a tree for Christmas Day. But in North Korea , December 25th is just another day and Christmas is effectively banned. Ju said: "In my home, we just celebrated that kind of thing. But we didn't know what that day was about; just every December 25th, my grandfather asked us to do that. "My grandfather taught us 'hey grandson, the other countries beside North Korea, every December 25th, they make this kind of tree and celebrate this day'." Not knowing the origins of the tradition, his family displayed the tree openly. The neighbours called it a "yolka" - a tree put up to mark the new year in the Russian-speaking world. With Christianity being suppressed in North Korea, nobody knew the real origins of the tradition, and the family faced no repercussions, Ju said. He explained: "It was possible because my village was a very small village. There were only 30 households living in my town, and it was very isolated from the main city." The family would also clap and lead a chant. Its nonsense words sounded like "belly hem, belly hem, say goodbye, say goodbye". What was the reason? Mysterious radio transmissions from across the border in South Korea offered a clue. Those broadcasts would take Ju from the countryside of North Hamgyong Province to the White House. "Me and my family actually listened to the illegal foreign radio broadcasting in North Korea," said Ju. "We listened to the FEBC (Far East Broadcasting Company), which is South Korean Christian broadcasting. It's very clearly...

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