In Brief... World News Review: Korean Concerns
North Korean government continues to boost military.
Much press has been given to the ongoing Iraqi crisis, but recent actions by the North Korean government are setting off alarms. The Korean peninsula was called "the most unpredictable security tinder box in the world" in a recent Boston Globe article.
North Korea fields the world's second-largest army, adding 13,000 soldiers and 900,000 reservists last year alone, in spite of widespread food shortages and even famine. U.S. intelligence says the country has three nuclear devices. Recent missile launches demonstrated North Korean capability to reach all of South Korea, Japan, and Okinawa.
For perspective, contrasting North Korea with Iraq, the North Koreans have thousands of tons of chemical and biological weapons along with the capacity to use them. The Communist Koreans have also openly threatened the 37,000 U.S. troops based in South Korea, and recently refused to allow weapons inspectors access to sites of suspected underground nuclear facilities. (The Arizona Republic, © 1998 ; Eric Margolis, © 1998)
An Article from:
World News and Prophecy: December 1998
Course Content
David Palmer
Born in Saskatchewan Canada, David Palmer was first introduced to the radio broadcast of the World Tomorrow during his career in broadcasting, when the program was aired during his on air shift. In 1965 his radio career took him to Vancouver British Columbia, where he was eventually baptized, and began attending Sabbath services. He was ordained to the ministry in 1983. Now retired from broadcasting David currently pastors congregations in Vancouver, and Vancouver Island. He is also a member of the UCG-Canada National Council, and serves on the Canadian Ministerial Services Team, as well as the Canadian Media Team
Fred Nance
Fred Nance is a pastor at the United Church of God and has a B.A. in History from Ambassador College. He is originally from Lansing Michigan having moved to Arkansas in September of 2009. His wife Lidia is originally from Argentina.
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
