North Korea would “enthusiastically” welcome Pope Francis for a visit, South Korea claimed on Tuesday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made the statement to South Korean President Moon Jae-in during their summit last month, according to South Korea’s presidential office. The South Korean leader plans to tell the Vatican about the invitation when he is hosted there on October 18.
Moon said Kim may also meet with the leaders of Russia, China, and Japan as well.
In 2000, the Vatican shot down the North’s invitation to Pope John Paul 2, saying the officially atheist and authoritarian country must accept Catholic priests before the Pope would visit.
“When you speak the same language it is because you have the same mother, and this gives us hope,” the pope said after a 2014 visit to South Korea. “The suffering of the division is great, and I understand this and pray that it ends.”
The Vatican has not weighed in on a potential meeting with North Korea, but did confirm in a press release that it will host the South Korean leader.
The reports of possible discourse between the North and other countries comes after a summit between the North Korean dictator and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that the latter described as productive.
North Korea agreed in that meeting to allow international inspectors to inspect the Punggye-ri nuclear-testing site, which it claims to have destroyed.
“As President Trump said, there are many steps along the way and we took one of them today,” Pompeo said of the meeting. “It was another step forward. So this is, I think, a good outcome for all of us.”
Russia confirmed that President Vladimir Putin has extended an invitation to Kim for a meeting in Russia. The Kremlin is currently working out the logistics of the meeting, according to Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.