VATICAN CITY - Two papal diplomats have visited North Korea as part of the Vatican's campaign to keep up good relations with the government there, the Holy See said Thursday.
It was the sixth time that top Vatican officials had gone to North Korea.
The visit, by Monsignors Celestino Migliore and Luis Mariano Montemayor, "reaffirmed the constant solidarity of the Holy Father for the North Korean population and contributed to giving continuity to the relations established with the government authorities of Pyongyang, particularly with the Foreign Affairs Ministry."
The Vatican delegates held talks with leaders of a local Catholic organization and celebrated Ascension Day services with the local and international Catholic community there.
Two years ago, South Korea's president said that North Korea had expressed a willingness to invite the pope to visit the communist country, but no firm plans have materialized.
North Korea does not encourage religion among its tightly controlled population of 22 million. It built three churches — two Protestant and one Roman Catholic — in the late 1980s.
The Vatican began diplomatic and humanitarian missions to North Korea in 1996. John Paul has given thousands of dollars from his charities to famine-stricken North Korea.