Underground Christian Church

A group of Christians gathered in an apartment above a Beijing dental surgery, the atmosphere jubilant as a choir belted out carols on Christmas Eve -- but the curtains stayed tightly closed.

An American who is back home after being detained for nearly six months in North Korea said Friday that he left a Bible in a nightclub hoping it would get into the hands of what he called the country's underground Christian church.

North Korea sentenced a South Korean missionary to hard labour for life after accusing him of espionage and setting up an underground church, state media said Saturday, the latest Christian preacher to run into trouble in the secretive state.

A group of Christians gathered in an apartment above a Beijing dental surgery, the atmosphere jubilant as a choir belted out carols on Christmas Eve -- but the curtains stayed tightly closed.

An American who is back home after being detained for nearly six months in North Korea said Friday that he left a Bible in a nightclub hoping it would get into the hands of what he called the country's underground Christian church.

North Korea sentenced a South Korean missionary to hard labour for life after accusing him of espionage and setting up an underground church, state media said Saturday, the latest Christian preacher to run into trouble in the secretive state.