When Pope Francis embarked on the first visit of a pontiff to Asia since 1999, the choice of South Korea, a relatively small country on the Pacific Rim, was greeted with surprise. But he went there in 2014 because of its potential for the evangelisation of Asia and its growing role in global Catholic mission.
The Korean Church has borne outstanding witness in the turbulent history of the past 250 years on the peninsula. During its first century the Church experienced repeated persecutions which not only decimated the community but also exiled the Church to the margins of society. Pope Francis beatified 124 martyrs (in addition to 103 canonised by Pope John Paul II in 1984).
