[앵커]
President Moon Jae-in, who has arrived in Rome, Italy, will meet again with Pope Francis on the afternoon of the 29th in our time after three years.
Pope Francis has expressed his desire to visit North Korea whenever he has the opportunity.
At this meeting, where President Moon also accompanies the Minister of Unification, attention is paid to whether progress will be made in relation to the Pope’s visit to North Korea.
Reporter Hong Seon-ki reports from Rome.
[기자]
President Moon Jae-in will meet with Pope Francis on the morning of the 29th local time, this afternoon in our time on the first tour of Europe.
This is the first reunion in three years since President Moon visited the Vatican in October 2018.
[박경미 / 청와대 대변인(지난 22일) : 보편적 인류애를 실천해 온 세계 종교계 지도자와 한반도 평화 증진과 코로나, 기후변화, 빈곤·기아 등 글로벌 현안 해결을 위한 지혜를 나누는 계기가 될 것으로 기대합니다.]
President Moon told Pope Francis his intention to invite North Korean leader Kim Jong-un three years ago.
The Pope showed an active will to visit North Korea when an official invitation came, but since then, there has been no progress as inter-Korean relations have been strained.
Pope Francis, however, has reaffirmed his will to visit North Korea whenever he has the opportunity.
In addition, with the appointment of a Korean archbishop as the Vatican Minister, expectations for the Pope’s visit to North Korea have risen even higher.
[유흥식 / 교황청 성직자성 장관(지난 6월) : 지난번 4월에 갔을 때 교황께 (방북을) 말씀드렸고, 교황께서도 거기에 정말 (공감)하셨고 가고 싶다고 말씀하셨습니다.]
A key Blue House official also suggested in this interview that the Pope’s visit to North Korea will be discussed in depth.
In particular, the fact that Unification Minister Lee In-young accompanies President Moon and Pope Francis supports this point.
At every opportunity, Pope Francis, who has expressed his will to visit North Korea, will be paying attention to what message he will deliver in relation to peace on the Korean Peninsula this time.
This is Sunki Hong from YTN from Rome.
YTN Sunki Hong (sunki0524@ytn.co.kr)
[저작권자(c) YTN & YTN plus 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]
.
