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| / Korea Times file |
By Lee Han-soo
President Moon Jae-in is reportedly seeking Pope Francis' help to arrange a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
According to the Joongang Ilbo, one of Korea's biggest newspapers, Archbishop Hyginus Kim Hee-joong, Moon's special envoy to the Vatican, plans to deliver Moon's letter to the Pope Tuesday or Wednesday.
"I will deliver President Moon's letter to the Pope during my audience, in which Moon asks the latter to help arrange an inter-Korean summit," Archbishop Kim was quoted as saying in a report published Tuesday.
Noting that Pope Francis was a crucial figure in the normalization of diplomatic relation between the U.S. and Cuba in 2014, he said the Pope had been looking for ways to resolve the North Korean issue.
"Pope Francis emphasized after his visit to Egypt last month that the North Korean missile crisis, which has been going on more than a year, has become too dangerous," Kim said. "He asked for the role of a third country, such as Norway, to mediate the crisis."
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The Archbishop said Moon is asking Pope Francis to take on that role.
Cheong Wa Dae denial
The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae has dismissed the report, saying it was not the time for such a meeting.
"Archbishop Kim is in fact set to deliver the President's personal letter to the Pope," presidential spokesman Park Soo-hyun said. "However, the letter does not contain a request to the Pope to help mediate a South-North Korean summit. The President has instead only asked the pontiff to pray for peace and reconciliation between the two Koreas."
Moon repeatedly vowed throughout his campaign that he will use all available means, including dialogue, to rid North Korea of its nuclear arms and bring peace to the Korean Peninsula.
