Not Forgotten

"Kenneth Bae is a deeply religious man," Bill Richardson tried to warn me in the foreword of the book. What an understatement!I want to be clear because this book seems to have a large following of Christian readers based on the other reviews. I'm not a religious individual, but I have absolutely no problem with people of faith as long as they're respectful of others and stay somewhat grounded in reality. And trust me, I tried to give this book a chance but I had to throw in the towel about three quarters through when he started trying to evangelize the prison guards. That was enough for me. So take this as a review from someone who is not religious, because I think we're under represented here.First of all, I will give this book one thing. It does help you get inside of Mr. Bae's head and understand his world view and what motivates him. That being said, I think any reasonable person will roll his or her eyes in disbelief at Kenneth's decisions throughout. For me, he is hard to sympathize with because he seems to be so naive and careless, with very little self awareness. I'll get into that more below.You get to read about his background, and how this good Christian and follower of Christ used to live in the US and was married there, but then divorced and left his wife and kids behind so he could move to China. He claims this was his calling from God, but the skeptical part of me suspects it was to avoid child support. He writes about how him and his friends in China prayed diligently to God that He would lower their rent on a building they wanted to share down to $300 a month, so clearly he was destitute. I got the impression that he was basically homeless and subsisted off the good will of others for most of his life. I'm a father, and I would never, ever leave my kids behind so I could go travel the world. But hey that's me.Why he's careless...Although Kenneth claims that God speaks to him all the time, apparently God didn't speak to him before entering North Korea to remind him to leave behind the USB thumb drive full of incriminating evidence that got himself and (worst of all) many of his friends in North Korea in very serious trouble.Why he's naive...During interrogations, he told the North Koreans that he was prepared to die as a martyr. Yet a few pages later, he gives up the names and whereabouts of all his Christian friends in North Korea because the interrogator yelled at him. So which is it, Kenneth? Are you a martyr or not? He claims he gave up the info because God spoke (of course) and told him that everyone will be OK. Kenneth, my man, this is North Korea. It doesn't work like that. Your friends and their families were sent to labor camps or executed because of your carelessness, I don't care what the Workers Party officials at your trial told you. How could he have visited North Korea 18 times and not understand this? Yes, everyone makes mistakes and nobody is perfect. But if you're going to work as a "tour guide" to North Korea, you have a tremendous responsibility for the safety of others. Kenneth clearly failed them and his attempt to justify his actions by telling readers that God told him it's OK absolutely infuriated me.He also was under the impression months into his imprisonment and EVEN DURING HIS TRIAL that they would let him go and then he could continue his cover business of a travel agency to let other Christian missionaries into the country... EVEN THOUGH THIS IS THE EXACT THING HE WAS ON TRIAL FOR.In fact, after reading three quarters of the book, I'm convinced the North Korean authorities were just waiting for him to do something stupid in order to build a case against him. Given that he can't articulate a story for more than 10 seconds without referencing a bible verse or espousing the virtues of Jesus Christ and his belief system, I'm convinced that Kenneth spoke openly about his beliefs to anyone and everyone around him on his previous trips to the country, where religious freedom is illegal.As someone who has traveled to North Korea before, I'm always interested in reading about the North Korean judicial system and accounts from former prisoners. If you feel the same way, then there is some info in here that is mildly interesting, but not much that hasn't been revealed before (and much better) by other authors. I'll give it two stars for that. If you're not interested in reading hundreds of pages about how a man of questionable intelligence spent a couple years in North Korea reading his bible all day and ranting and raving to God in his bedroom, then avoid.

I read a lot of books on the DPRK, especially defector accounts. This book is told from the view of a person who traveled to North Korea with what I believe were good intentions in his eyes to “help” North Koreans by clandestinely introducing religion to them. My problem with the author, and subject of the book is this all started in 2012. Regardless that he left unauthorized items in his luggage by accident, it’s wasn’t a secret that the DPRK is a dangerous place for Americans to go. What I didn’t like about the book was based on the well known State Department warnings, which were and are still easily accessible via the internet, that he chose to travel there, and after intentionally or unintentionally breaking the laws of the country seemed to put it on the US to bail him out at all costs. Again, I could understand if there were no precursor warnings not to go there that this would seem and unacceptable situation, I’m a firm believer that anyone that enters the DPRK voluntarily has to accept the consequences and stop putting the US into situations we shouldn’t have to be involved in. The author wasn’t born there and an escapee, he traveled there voluntarily, intended on setting up a religious mission which is against DPRK laws, and well documented that way, then wanted a bailout for blatantly breaking their laws.

Great book; couldn’t stop reading! So helpful and touching. A must read ! Thank you , Pastor Kenneth! For enduring the hardship in Borth Korea

Inspiring & harrowing story of Kenneth Bae, a Christian minister, who was held captive in North Korea for 2 years for "undermining their government".He entered the country leading a Christian tour group who were planning to quietly pray for the country & its people. They were not proselytizing or witnessing to anyone. Were it not for a hard drive that he unintentionally brought into the country, he would probably not have been detained. (The others were not detained.) The hard drive contained information that the North Korean government deemed harmful.It is the story of his experiences at the hands of this very closed & severe system that lifts its government to totalitarian authority & the Kim family to savior status. Bae's Christian faith was tested, tried, faltered & was ultimately strengthened.Being a Christian myself, it was a truthful & powerful story of how the Lord sustains us through hard & difficult times as long as we continue to rely upon Him. Definitely worth the read.I looked at some of the reader reviews of this book & found some interesting & provocative comments from non-believers that Christians might want to read. Those gave me pause for thought & prayer as I try to comprehend how non-believers think & react to Christ & His followers.

The media could not be loaded.  This book is an amazing reminder that with God nothing is impossible. Thank you Kenneth for showing us with your obedience and faith that when we yield ourselves to God entirely, He Uses us in ways that we could never imagine! Even amidst darkness He is with us, and His Heart is in the people of DPRK, and their suffering, He Hears them and wants to let them know Him. Truly, He is closest to the broken-hearted and this story narrates it in every possible way! ♥️ Thank you 53rd Street Books for making it accessible to me in excellent condition🙏🏻

The book talks about how the man managed his stay as a prisoner in DPRK. I was looking for more info on North Korea while going through this book but it mainly dealt with God's support and strength that sometimes seemed vague.

I spent two years waiting for Kenneth Bae to be released, and when i heard it on the news , i was overjoyed, So i had to buy his book to find out exactly what had happened to him when he was imprisoned in North Korea. I wasn't disappointed the book is very well written and i read it in two days. In some ways i was relieved when i read it, as i had read some truly awful accounts of North Korean defectors and i was afraid the same would happen to Kenneth, not that he had an easy time of it,.far from it, His description of the labor camp and back breaking work, and lack of food, sleep deprivation and depression were heart breaking, But his faith in God is what kept him going, i was inspired by this,. I would recommend this book to anybody with an interest in North Korea and the power of Christian faith.

I've only read half of it but felt irritated by the first ten pages or so, and to feel irritated by the tone of someone who was imprisoned in a North Korea labour camp is a hell of an achievement. The reason? There is, quite simply, too much God, too much Jesus and too many smug realisations of how they were both with him throughout. People, myself included, buy books like this to read of the horror, but it seems as though he was piggy-backed across the broken glass of his punishment by the word of God, and my (secular) God, he doesn't let up.What he did to get to where he went was a trivial - to us - matter, and something that many people may fall foul of; in that sense, it's a salutory tale and I appreciate that he went through more fear than many - BUT at the same point, if his deluded belief that North Korea could somehow be dismantled by loving Christians is what got him there in the first place, then a bit of cruel clarity probably didn't go amiss. I've always found religious zealots, which is what he is, to be very patronising in their manner and whatever hell Mr Bae has experienced, he shows a complete lack of awareness that his own proseltyzing is what he himself was rallying against when he embarked on his work in North Korea.

Is it important to have your Cultural Eyes opened? I think so. We so often live in our own introverted cultural bubble with our own mindset, especially for those of us who grow up in the privilege of freedom which allows us to think and be without recrimination.This book opened my eyes to the mind control in North Korean Culture.The story was a reality check for faith in the Lord, and for true perspective on matters of life and deathKenneth's story taught me the greatest lesson of all; that we live life not for ourselves, but for that greater plan and purpose which achieves so much more, and that sacrifice of self is the greatest expression of love and is to be greatly valued for it's worth.