Vatican working for papal visit to N. Korea: archbishop

By Kim Deok-hyun

ROME, Oct. 31 (Yonhap) -- The Vatican is working on a possible visit by Pope Francis to North Korea, an archbishop has said, after South Korean President Moon Jae-in asked the pope to visit the North to bring peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Moon, who held a meeting with Francis at the Vatican on Friday, asked the pope to pay a visit to Pyongyang. Francis said he would gladly visit the North for the sake of helping Koreans and the cause of peace if he received an invitation from Pyongyang.

"It is a fact that the Holy See is making efforts to build circumstances throughout various ways for the pontiff to go to North Korea," archbishop Lazzaro You Heung-sik told reporters accompanying Moon on his trip to Italy on Saturday.

Vatican officials have met North Korean officials at the North's embassy in Rome, said Yoo, who commenced his service as Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy at the Vatican in August.

Regardless of a potential papal visit to North Korea, the Vatican is ready to provide humanitarian assistance to the North, Yoo said.

"Besides North Korea, the Holy See is making efforts to provide any support for vulnerable nations," Yoo said.

The pope has called for peace on the peninsula and previously expressed a willingness to visit North Korea.

During a meeting with the pope in 2018, Moon delivered a verbal invitation from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and the pope said at the time he was willing to visit the North if Pyongyang sends him an official invitation.

No further progress, however, has been made amid a deadlock in talks between the North and the United States.

kdh@yna.co.kr
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