Pope Francis on June 30, 2019, offered his prayers for peace in Korea in the wake of the weekend meeting of US President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the demilitarized zone between North Korea and South Korea.
The Holy Father’s remarks came after praying the noon Angelus with a large crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
“In the last hours, we have witnessed in Korea a good example of the culture of encounter,” Pope Francis said. “I greet the protagonists, with the prayer that such a significant gesture may constitute a further step on the path of peace, not only in the Peninsula but in favor of the whole world.”
During the meeting between the two world leaders, which lasted about an hour, they agreed to send their negotiating teams back to the table. And Trump, by crossing the line in the demilitarized zone, became the first US president to set foot in North Korea.
A prayer for peace was held by the Korean Catholic community gathered in Imjingak on June 25, the date that marks the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950; a Eucharist was celebrated with the special intention of prayer for peace in the Korean peninsula.
