VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- South Korea's President Kim Dae-Jung will visit the Vatican on March 4, to meet with Pope John Paul II for the first time.

    The South Korean leader will be traveling through Europe in March, making stops in France and Germany as well as Italy. This will also be the first visit to Rome for the Korean president. Pope John Paul has traveled to South Korea twice during the course of his pontificate: in May 1984 and October 1989.

    There are about 4 million Catholics in South Korea, making up 8 percent of the country's population. But the Vatican is also actively pursuing contacts with the government of North Korea. Although the Church has no official presence in that Communist country-- all priests were expelled or imprisoned after the Communist regime took power in 1948-- there are believed to be at least 100,000 Catholics in the country's beleaguered underground Church.