Cheong "Pope's North Korea Visit is a Noble Step... Do Not Link It to Ceasefire Declaration or Beijing"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Regarding President Moon Jae-in's private meeting with Pope Francis during the G20 Summit and his request for a papal visit to North Korea, Blue House spokesperson Park Kyung-mi emphasized that "(a visit to North Korea) is not a manufactured event but a noble act in itself."

Spokesperson Park appeared on KBS Radio's "Choi Kyung-young's Strongest Current Affairs" on the morning of the 2nd and stated, "I hope people view (the Pope's visit to North Korea) on its own, without linking it to the declaration of the end of the war or the Beijing Olympics."

In response to the host's question about associating the Pope's visit with the timing of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Park said, "I can only say that various efforts are underway, but it is difficult to make predictions about the timing," adding, "However, since the Pope is from Argentina, a warm country, I understand it is difficult for him to travel during winter."

Regarding whether the papal visit to North Korea will occur during President Moon's term, she said, "We are making efforts from multiple angles," and "I hope that various circumstances will come together so that the Pope can take steps toward lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula."

On the possibility of holding a South Korea-US summit and a South Korea-Japan summit during President Moon's term, she emphasized, "In the case of the US, there were abundant achievements at the May South Korea-US summit, and follow-up measures are ongoing," adding, "Yesterday at the G20, President Moon briefly met with President Biden, and today they also had a brief conversation at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26)."

She continued, "What I want to say at this point is that our media tends to focus only on diplomacy with the US, China, and Japan, but I hope the scope of interest will broaden to multilateral diplomacy," adding, "The Moon administration has greatly improved relations with the US, China, and Russia, and has made great efforts to diversify diplomacy through the New Southern and New Northern policies." She did not provide a separate response regarding the South Korea-Japan summit.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.