Despite the red-faced Mayans whose end-of-the-world scenario prediction failed on Dec 21, 2012, the Apocalypse continues to be on the mind of some groups and individuals.

One such group focused on the end times in the 17-million strong Adventist Church, which will observe its 150 years anniversary in May, has for its foundation the preaching that Jesus would return soon - hence, they are praying for the second advent, which explains why they are called Seventh-day Adventists.

The group will hold a day of prayer - presumably to intercede for the Apocalypse to take place - and remembrance and recommitment to mission on May 18, the Saturday before the Church's actual 150th anniversary, The Washington Post reports.

It will be held at the church headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland.

However, church members actually feel embarrassed by reaching 150 years since it appears their prediction of the second coming fell short, just like what happened to the Mayans.

"In one kind of way it really is a sad event ... We're a church that by its name believes in the Second Coming of Christ, and we have been hopeful that long ago Christ would have come and taken the righteous to heaven and this world would have ended," Washington Post quoted Michael Ryan, vice president of the church's General Conference, which is its top governing body.

Actually, many Christian churches preach the Second Coming, but few believe it would be soon. A 2010 survey made by the Pew Research Center found that almost half of Americans believe in the return of Jesus in the next four decades.

However, the nuclear threat being posed by North Korea may just hasten the Adventists' prayer for the end of the world.

Reports said that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned that the Korean peninsula could be slipping out of control amid South Korea raising its military watch alert to "vital threat" in anticipation of a missile launch by Pyongyang.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se informed the country's parliament on Thursday that the missile launch could take place anytime amid reports that two mid-range missiles would soon be launched from the east coast.

Due to the escalating nuclear tension, the key border crossing between North Korea and China was closed on Wednesday to tourist groups, according to an official at the Dandong Border Office.