The Pope is scheduled to land at Seoul Airport in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, to make his first trip to Asia since he took over the papacy in March last year and the first by a pontiff to South Korea in 25 years.
An official welcoming ceremony for the pontiff will be held at Cheong Wa Dae later in the day with the attendance of members of the papal entourage and the diplomatic corps, and senior Korean officials, the office said.
Pope Francis will then have an audience with President Park. After that, the pontiff will deliver a speech at the guesthouse in Cheong Wa Dae, it said.
The main reason for the pontiff’s Aug. 14-18 trip is to participate in a meeting of Asian Catholic youths and beatify 124 Korean martyrs, Vatican spokesman father Federico Lombardi said last week.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
