Seoul says Kim Jong Un wants Pope Francis to visit N Korea

Kim is maximizing the legitimacy Trump bestowed upon him to gain more legitimacy. Go Trump! He's unstoppable.

Need a few million Catholics in a country for a pope to visit. 10M Catholics would be better.

Need a few million Catholics in a country for a pope to visit. 10M Catholics would be better.

The pope has minimum crowd requirements? That's very . . . generous of him.

NK may be officially as a country may be labeled atheist as they may not believe in a God as others know it but that does not mean that they are not religious in the sense that they have a "life philosophy" and that the people themselves may be agnostic and / or actually are theists. As with Japan many years ago, there were Christians in hiding.

It is interesting that Moon even brought this idea out and suggest that Kim "actually" said and wanted it.

What ever the issue may be Kim has the ability to reach out directly.

I would wait till such time as Kim actually declares such a request.

Having related the above, the issues with denationalization does not relate directly to this announcement by Moon and further politicizes the issues at hand. It also adds the moral, ethical, and religious issues short of racial issues into the picture.

While it is true that human relationships require viewing any issue from all perspectives relatives to making a decision and to act in a certain manner, the immediate need is not religious. If this is an effort to "sell" Kim as a "human" with some "heart" by Moon, to soften world opinion and lay a groundwork for NK to unite with SK and join the world community in a better standing, then it may make sense.

Sure! Why not?! Trump has already legitimized Kim Jong Un. This is the era of placating dictators.

Good luck at getting Kim to give up those nukes! If history is an indicator, he ain't gonna.

Interesting take on all this... Trump really does not have any hand in what was stated.

In fact this may not even be from Kim or Moon. All it states is that Moon's office personnel supposedly leaked this information to the press based upon the dialog between Kim and Moon. There is no indication that it was an official statement.

It appears to add legitimacy and purpose to Moon's trip to the Vatican and at the same time appear to add legitimacy to Kim asking for a papal visit.

In any case, "legitimacy" of Kim is not an issue here. Kim has the controlling power (at least on the surface for now). He is the "only" person that "determines" what NK does and to whom all NKoreans must answer to and to whom other world leaders must face. Meeting Trump or Xi or Putin does not change or validate legitimacy.

Religion and Politic don't mix it.