Pope looking for ‘transparent dialogue’ in Korea talks

Pope Francis on Wednesday called for a “transparent dialogue” between North Korea and South Korea in his weekly public address as leaders from the two countries prepare to meet for a historic summit.

Reuters reports that Francis called the first inter-Korean summit in more than a decade a “propitious occasion” for the two nations to end the decades-long tension that has existed since the end of combat in the Korean War.

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“This encounter can be a propitious occasion to start a transparent dialogue and a concrete path to reconciliation and renewed fraternity aimed at guaranteeing peace on the Korean peninsula and in the whole world,” Francis said.

Francis added that he hoped South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would show “the courage of hope, thus becoming artisans of peace” as the two meet in the border village of Panmunjom on Friday for the talks.

The dialogue between the two nations came as a result of South Korea’s decision to allow North Korean participation in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games earlier this year and resulted in an invitation to visit the North being extending to Moon.

Soon afterward, President Trump announced he had also accepted a meeting with Kim, a chance for unprecedented talks between a North Korean leader and a U.S. president.

Trump has hailed the planned summit as a diplomatic success for his administration and has said he hopes to achieve a deal to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula in the upcoming talks.