North Korea Invites Pope Francis To Pyongyang, Reports Say

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has invited Pope Francis to visit the country’s capital, South Korea's presidential office said Tuesday.

Spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom revealed in a press briefing Tuesday that North Korea will “ardently welcome the pope if he visits Pyongyang,” Yonhap News reported.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in who is scheduled to meet the pope during his trip to Europe in mid-October will deliver the message personally to him. The spokesman added that during Moon’s visit to the Vatican on Oct. 17 and 18, he will seek the pope's blessing and support for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. He will also discuss possibilities of future cooperation with the Vatican.

Pope Francis visited Seoul in August 2014, making it the first trip by a pontiff to Asia in 15 years.

“As I begin my trip, I ask you to join me in praying for Korea and for all of Asia,” he tweeted at the time.

During his five-day visit, he led a huge open-air Mass in the center of Seoul, which was attended by over 800,000 people.

"Their example has much to say to us who live in societies where, alongside immense wealth, dire poverty is silently growing; where the cry of the poor is seldom heeded and where Christ continues to call out to us, asking us to love and serve him by tending to our brothers and sisters in need. They challenge us to think about what, if anything, we ourselves would be willing to die for,” he said during the sermon, Independent reported.

He also visited a hilltop center for the sick, disabled and homeless run by the church in the town of Kkottongnae where he comforted sick children and adults. However, the pope had to cut his journey short.

"I've got a little problem. If there's one thing you should never do, it's skip your prayers, but today we'll have to do it alone and I'll tell you why: I came by helicopter, and if we don't take off in time, there's a danger we might smash into a mountain,” he said.

In 2017, Moon sent a special envoy to the Vatican to seek support in efforts to foster reconciliation in the Korean peninsula.

“I was sent by the president to ask the Holy Father for his support in the reconciliation process between North and South Korea, and I hope the Vatican can act as a mediator,” Bishop Hyginus Kim Hee-jong, who served as the envoy said adding the mediation “could be the same as the mediation made during the restoration of relations between Cuba and the United States.”

“The Holy See has always been on the side of Korea in the difficult moments of its history, and we hope this will happen again. If we achieve peace between North and South Korea, we state as from now our commitment to work for peace in East Asia and, on a larger scale, for peace in the world. We want to be a tool for peace,” he said, Crux Now reported.

In September, Kim met Moon and they discussed a wide range of topics including denuclearization and reducing military tension between the two nations.