In the subsequent week, Pope John Paul II wrote to Chun requesting clemency for Kim (a Catholic) on humanitarian grounds.

[3] In 2021, President Moon Jae-in encouraged Pope Francis to visit North Korea as a way to further the dialogue between the two countries and the United States.

It is unclear if such dialogue will continue, as the recently elected President Yoon Suk-yeol is highly critical of Moon's pro-reconciliation policies.

[4] In 1984, Pope John Paul II visited South Korea for the first time to attend a ceremony commemorating 200th anniversary of Korean Catholicism, celebrating mass in the city of Gwangju, where a pro-democracy uprising took place four years prior.

[5] Pope Francis also made a papal visit to South Korea in 2014 for the beatification of the 124 Korean martyrs and for the sixth Asian Youth Day.