The Pope says he's willing to make a papal visit to North Korea

• Pope Francis has expressed his willingness to visit North Korea if preparations can be made.
• This is the second time the Pope has voiced his interest in visiting the isolated country.
• He also expressed sympathy for families who have been separated by the Korean war for 70 years.

The Pope has once again expressed his interest in visiting North Korea.

According to Yonhap News, Pope Francis this week communicated his willingness to visit the isolated country to a senior South Korean bishop, saying that he sympathized with Korean families separated for the last 70 years.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un in 2018 extended an invitation to the pope to visit the North, following a warming of relations between the North and the South after three inter-Korean summits.

The invitation to visit Pyongyang was delivered in October 2018 by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, when he visited the Vatican during a tour of Europe.

According to the BBC, this move was viewed as a conciliatory gesture from North Korea. However, plans for a papal visit fell through after talks between Kim and former US President Donald Trump broke down in Hanoi in 2019.

Pope Francis told Bishop Lazarus You Heung-sik, the leader of the Daejeon diocese, during a meeting at the Vatican that he would be willing to re-visit the idea if the "relevant preparations are completed."

No pope has ever made a trip to North Korea, and North Korea and the Vatican have no diplomatic ties.

If Pope Francis is invited to North Korea again, this will be the second time an invitation is extended to a pope. His predecessor, Pope John Paul II, was invited by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il - Kim Jong-un's father - to visit the country in 2000.

According to the AP, the Vatican insisted at the time that a visit could only happen if the North Koreans accepted Catholic priests.