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Pope Francis said that he could make an official visit to North Korea, one of the worst countries in the world where Christians are persecuted, thousands of whom are incarcerated in labor camps.
An invitation from the head of state closed, Kim Jong-un, was passed on to the pope by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Catholic, during a private audience held Thursday at the Vatican.
Moon "transmitted [Kim’s] desire for a papal visit to North Korea, "said the South Korean presidential office, with a formal invitation to Pyongyang.
According to the statement, Francis said, "If the invitation is received, I will surely answer it and I will be able to go." It would be the first papal visit to North Korea since its founding in 1948.
Kim's invitation follows a request made this week by two Chinese bishops to Francis to visit China after an agreement reached last month between Beijing and the Vatican on the appointment of bishops in the communist state.
"We invited Pope Francis to come to China," said Joseph Guo Jincai Guo, one of the two bishops who attended the Vatican Synod. "We are waiting for it."
The pope has already announced his intention to visit Japan next year. This trip could be extended to accommodate highly symbolic visits to China and North Korea.
Kim is trying to turn his image of eccentric and dangerous leader of a pariah state into a player in the global diplomatic scene. He met and corresponded with Donald Trump, leading the US president to declare last month that the two leaders had "fallen in love".
At a summit between North Korea and South Korea last month, Kim told Hyginus Kim Hee-joong, a South Korean archbishop, that he wanted the pope to know his desire to peace.
North Korea is at the top of a list of 50 countries classified for the persecution of Christians for 16 years. The list, compiled by the Open Doors Christian watchdog, highlighted imprisonment in Christian labor camps and Christian missionaries in the state.
He said: "Due to constant indoctrination, neighbors and family members, including children, are extremely vigilant and report anything suspicious to the authorities. If Christians are discovered, they are deported to labor camps as political criminals or killed on the spot; their families share their destiny.
"To assemble for a cult is almost impossible, so it is done in the greatest secrecy. The churches presented to visitors in Pyongyang serve only as propaganda. "
The 2018 Annual Report of the United States Commission on World Religious Freedom stated: "The North Korean government's approach to religion and belief is one of the most hostile and repressive in the world. Freedom of religion or belief does not exist in North Korea.
"The regime exerts an absolute influence on the handful of state-controlled places of worship that are allowed to exist, creating a facade of religious life in North Korea. In practice, the North Korean regime views religion as a threat, especially religions associated with the West such as Christianity, and is known to stop, torture, imprison and even execute religious believers. "
According to Open Doors, there are about 300,000 Christians in a population of 25.4 million in North Korea, and between 50,000 and 75,000 in its labor camps.
A Vatican statement on the meeting between the pope and Moon did not mention the possibility of a visit to North Korea.
