GARDEN GROVE : Christian Delegation Back From N. Korea

A delegation of Christian leaders visited North Korea earlier this month to explore the possibility of exchange visits with religious groups there.

Dan Wooding, founder and president of a Garden Grove-based ministry, met in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, with North Korean leaders, including Choe Thae Bok, secretary general of the nation’s ruling party.

The delegation was led by David Cho, a Korean American Christian leader who helped arrange the recent visits to North Korea of evangelist Billy Graham and former President Jimmy Carter, Wooding said.

Wooding said the delegation included Michael Little, president of the Virginia-based Christian Broadcasting Network, and Charles Wickman, pastor of the Kempsville Presbyterian Church of Virginia Beach, Va., and executive director of the Center for American-North Korean Understanding.

While in North Korea, the U.S. delegation met with officials of the Christian Federation of North Korea, one of the few religious groups the government allows to operate, he said.

Wooding said that CBN might be allowed to broadcast a Korean-language version of the popular “Superbook” series of animated Bible stories, which has been translated into 34 languages.