Vatican City, Oct 29 (AP) South Korean President Moon Jae-in has given Pope Francis a statue of a cross made with barbed wire from the demilitarised zone separating North and South Korea.

Moon, a Catholic, called on Francis on Friday before the start of the Group of 20 summit in Rome.

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The Vatican, which didn't allow independent media in the audience, said Francis gave Moon a medallion replicating Bernini's original plan for St. Peter's Square. The design envisages the two main colonnades of the piazza embracing humanity in the church.

South Korean presidential officials had said they expected Moon and the pope to discuss a possible papal visit to North Korea since Francis had previously expressed a desire to do so if it becomes possible.

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Moon first floated the idea of a papal visit to the North in 2018 when he revealed that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had said the pope would be “enthusiastically” welcomed in the officially atheist North. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)