North Korean diplomacy knows no bounds. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hopes Pope Francis will come to Pyongyang, and on this occasion he will "warmly welcome", on Tuesday, October 9, South Korea's presidential palace announced the news and said it would forward this invitation to the Vatican.
South Korean Catholic President Moon Jae-in will have a private audience with the Pope when he arrives at the Vatican on October 17 and 18. Kim Eui-kyeom, spokesman for President Moon Jae-in, said: "During the meeting with Pope Francis, the President of South Korea will convey the invitation of Chairman Kim Jong Un accordingly, Kim Jong-un will warmly welcome him. warmly welcome the Pope when he arrives in Pyongyang.”
From October 13 to 21, South Korean President Moon Jae-in has a long trip through Europe, he will visit France, Italy and Germany and he will have to explain to European leaders the political line. his rapprochement with North Korea and the peninsula's recent developments.
A North Korean diplomacy without limits
After years of tension over the nuclear program, since the beginning of this year, the Korean peninsula has been the stage of an extraordinary relaxation by three summit meetings between President Moon Jae-in and Chairman Kim Jong-un. un. Kim Jong-un will visit Moscow soon and will receive President Xi Jinping before heading to Seoul for another historic summit.
South Korean Archbishop Hyginus Kim Hee-joong accompanied the South Korean president during the North-South meeting in Pyongyang on September 19.
According to a source obtained by the Cross newspaper , "The archbishop passed the message to Kim Jong-un through President Moon Jae-in and Kim's response was not unfavorable at all." During a conversation with Archbishop Hyginus Kim Hee-joong of South Korea, President Kim Jong-un asked to convey to the Vatican his desire to build peace.
A priest in South Korea analyzed the following: “This invitation must have delighted the South Korean bishops' conference. The role of diplomacy is now crucial in the process of getting closer to North Korea, but from a moral standpoint it would be difficult to justify a visit to a completely atheist country that excludes all forms of religion. religion or any form of religious observance.”
Freedom of religion is enshrined in the North Korean Constitution, but all religious activities are strictly regulated and completely prohibited outside of official establishments.
Pyongyang, the former "Jerusalem of Asia"
In the early 20th century, before the division of the Korean peninsula, Pyongyang was an important religious center with many churches and a lay community called the "Jerusalem of Asia". But North Korean regime founder and president Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong-un's grandfather, views Christianity as a threat to his dictator's regime. He completely eliminated Christianity through purges and detention in re-education camps.
Since then, the North Korean regime has allowed Catholic organizations to have a variety of humanitarian programs, but they have no ties to the Vatican. During his 2014 trip to South Korea, Pope Francis celebrated a Mass in Seoul with the intention of praying for the unification of the two Koreas.
Translated by Joseph Nguyen Tung Lam