All religious activity is seen as a revolt against North Korea's socialist principles and the cult of Kim Jong-il and his father, Kim il-Sung. As a result of strict searches, considerable numbers of secret Christians have been discovered, arrested, tortured and sometimes killed. Despite this, and the lack of freedom to worship, many take the risk of sharing their faith and the church is growing: there are an estimated 400,000 Christian believers in North Korea.

North Korean leaders have done everything they could to create a crisis on the Korean peninsula. Its army torpedoed and sank a South Korean navy vessel last year. They opened new facilities to enrich uranium in November 2010. When that didn't have the desired effect and South Korea continued to perform military exercises, North Korea decided to attack the South Koreans with artillery bombardment that killed at least two soldiers and wounded 15 others.

Even though the shelling of Yeongpeong is the worst escalation of violence since the 1953 armistice, the strategy behind it is remarkably predictable, and also ruthless and effective. Kim Jong-un, named successor of his father, needs to show the country and the world how strong he is. By deflecting attention at the Six-party talks (the two Koreas, the US, China, Japan and Russia) to the hostilities, they also distract the international community from addressing their human rights and food crises.

When we say 'poor', we don't just mean that they don't have enough clothes, shelter, education or jobs − all of which are true. Many North Koreans are so poor that they are dying of starvation. In fact, several million have died as a result of food shortages because of poor harvests and also the government's isolationist policy, which led to the collapse of the food distribution system. According to the World Food Programme, about 9 million people are in need of urgent food assistance. However, the North Korean government recently refused to accept food from Western countries and also expelled five aid groups. One UN human rights investigator described life inside North Korea as 'dire and desperate'.

There is no other place in the world so isolated, so spiritually dark and systematically inhumane as North Korea. North Korean Christians are singled out for their loyalty to Christ rather than to the dictator Kim Jong-il. The authorities have stepped up measures to expose all underground church members by increasing surveillance of Christians. Though many remain strong in their faith, some Christians struggle against despair. They ask us to join them in prayer that they will be able to worship God freely.

North Korea Freedom Week has been running since 2004 and promotes the freedom, human rights and dignity of the North Korean people. It has traditionally been held in Washington DC, but for the past two years it has been held in Seoul, South Korea.