After the division of Korea, however, the Communist government under Kim Il Sung persecuted Christians as imperialist collaborators and spies; even the famous Christian Nationalist Cho Man-sik, initially more influential than Kim, was arrested and shot.

The original cathedral, built of red brick in the late 19th century, was destroyed in the Korean War by American forces.

Earlier, in 1949, the last formal Bishop of Pyongyang, Francis Hong Yong-ho, had been imprisoned by the communist government; he later disappeared.

At the same time, two nondenominational Protestant churches were opened in an effort by the government to show religious freedom.

[1] In 2015, an agreement was reached between the Korean Catholic Association and the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea, allowing South Korean priests and bishops to celebrate Mass and administer the sacraments in the Cathedral on major feast days.