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National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won attends a mass at Sanjeongdong Catholic Church in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, on Monday. (provided by the South Jeolla provincial government)

National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Park Jie-won announced during a Catholic event Monday in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, that he is working to organize a Pyongyang visit by Pope Francis.

Park’s remarks came while he was attending a mass at Mokpo’s Sanjeongdong Catholic Church that day in appreciation of the church’s designation as a minor basilica.

In a celebratory message for the mass, Park said, “The three of us — Archbishop of Gwangju Hyginus Kim Hee-joong, Vatican Apostolic Nuncio to South Korea Archbishop Alfred Xuereb, and I — are working to organize a Pyongyang visit by Pope Francis.”

He also urged the attendees to “pray for this to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula.”

Park’s appearance to announce the plans for pursuing a Pyongyang visit by the Pope was a surprise, as he had not originally been listed on the program for the mass.

The mass that day was officiated by Archbishop Hyginus Kim Hee-joong and attended by around 200 people, including Archbishop Xuereb and South Jeolla Gov. Kim Yung-rok.

This was the first public event attended by Park in the Mokpo area since he became head of the NIS in July 2020. He represented the city in the National Assembly for three terms in the past.

By Ahn Kwan-ok, Gwangju correspondent

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