It has been belatedly confirmed that a survey team from the Vatican visited South Korea last month ahead of Pope Francis's visit to Seoul this August.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea says a papal inspection team visited Korea around mid-February and surveyed the site in Daejeon where the Asian Youth Day event will be held from August 13th to the 17th. They also toured the place where the pontiff will hold a ceremony to canonize 124 Korean martyrs including Paul Yun Ji-chung.

The conference says that talks are underway to arrange for the pope's arrival in Korea around August 13th, and for him to attend the Youth Day event in Daejeon and then preside over the canonization.