During his lifetime, few geopolitical theaters challenged Herbert W. Armstrong’s travel schedule and safety more than North and South Korea.

The Japanese ruled Korea until the end of the Second World War, at which time the United States separated the peninsula along the now-famed 38th parallel. Soviet forces oversaw the North, which established a Communist government, while the U.S. was the protector of the South and its capitalist government.

The subsequent invasion by forces from the North in the summer of 1950 escalated tensions to all-out war, resulting in significant loss of life and an ultimate return of divided borders near the 38th parallel.

Fifteen years later, Mr. Armstrong wrote co-workers Jan. 31, 1968, “Now the United States faces a new crisis in North Korea.” He observed that the newspapers of the day reported the crisis but not what it meant. He went on to outline, “Just over a week ago, Monday night, January 22, a little fourth-rate nation, North Korea, seized the United States Navy lightly-armed intelligence ship Pueblo, and its 83-man crew, on international waters. This was an illegal act of war against the United States.”

He drew attention to God’s prophetic declaration, “I will break the pride of your power” (Leviticus 26:19), underscoring its modern-day fulfillment in advance of Christ’s Second Coming, preceded by the declaration of the good news of the imminent Kingdom of God (Matthew 24:14).

“God gave us the most colossal national power and wealth ever possessed by any nation or empire,” he continued. “Already He has taken away that power from Britain. Before World War i they were the world’s greatest power. Today they are a second- or third-rate power—no longer one of the world powers. But the United States still possesses that power! We are the world’s greatest power! Yet we are afraid to use it. God has taken from us the pride of our power!”

Our older readers may remember North Korea’s seizure of the Pueblo. The act itself, in international waters, “was an illegal act of war against the United States,” only compounded, as Mr. Armstrong added, by the U.S. failing to intervene and counter the aggressive action.

He concluded his letter to supporters with a historic reminder. “Had a little nation like North Korea captured a United States Navy ship when Theodore Roosevelt was president, he probably would have issued orders at lightning speed to effect the recapture of that vessel, and had it back even before the world heard the news.”

Seven years following this incident, he urgently wrote, “We are now planning a campaign for South Korea, but it’s a race against time—because we know that North Korea is planning now to invade South Korea. We must try to get there first” (co-worker letter, Oct. 8, 1975).

Mr. Armstrong had scheduled meetings with South Korea’s President Park Chung-hee, who, having been in power since a 1961 coup, was later duly elected in 1963, and set in place rapid industrial and financial growth incentive programs chiefly focused on exports.

On Aug. 18, 1976, just weeks before the meetings, two U.S. Army officers were slain by North Korean military personnel in what was known as the Ax Murder Incident. The deaths took place in what was known as the Joint Security Area (jsa), which is ensconced in the famed Demilitarized Zone (dmz), acting as the line of demarcation between North and South.

Within days, Operation Paul Bunyan was launched by the U.S., which was supported by an armed platoon, B-52 bombers and helicopters paroling the dmz. Tensions were at fever pitch as the troops to the north held steady without firing.

Days later, the jsa was separated along the line of demarcation, with troops from the North staring in the face those from the South, thus maintaining an uneasy tension that extended far beyond their border to respective Soviet, Chinese and American spheres.

Considering this drama, on September 29, Mr. Armstrong informed co-workers, “My schedule for this last trip called for flying from Hong Kong direct to Seoul, South Korea, where I had a definite and important private meeting set up with President Park. I wrote to you about a year ago that I was trying to get to Seoul before the Communist North Koreans reopen the war and attack South Korea. Well, try as we did, it seems we were too late, but only by a very few days. The North Koreans are now openly threatening [the South], as I knew privately they were a year ago. It had become unsafe for us to fly in there. However, all other meetings were a real success.”

Mr. Armstrong never gave up on reaching North and South Korea, as evidenced in January 1980 when he excitedly informed co-workers, “The most important event in the work in our time took place this very month of December. I was the first world religious leader from the world of Christianity to be officially invited as guest of the government of the People’s Republic of China to meet privately with top officials, and speak before groups of leaders of this new Communist republic!”

That historic moment for the unofficial ambassador for world peace also led to invitations for him to visit Moscow, Poland and North Korea. Regional tensions and his death in 1986 would put an abrupt stop to his desire to reach the Koreans in person with the good news of Christ’s gospel of the coming Kingdom of God (Matthew 24:14).

The North’s request in 1980 under the leadership of Kim Il-sung and the 1976 overture by South Korea’s President Park Chung-hee to personally meet Mr. Armstrong and receive this nation-saving message have not fallen on deaf ears.

Trumpet founder Gerald Flurry has followed in the footsteps of the unofficial ambassador’s legacy of humanitarianism and the pursuit of peace according to God’s Word and prophecy. Realizing that God has a plan for the peoples of the Far East that will play out in high profile in the very near future, he has directed the publishing and distribution of the booklet holding the prophetic keys to the future of these divided peoples.

Request your copy of Russia and China in Prophecy to understand what lies ahead for North and South Korea and the greater Asia region.