March 10, 2014 - 16:03 AMT
Pope Francis to make his first trip to Asia in August

Pope Francis will make his first trip to Asia in August, visiting South Korea for a festival of Asian Catholic youth, the Vatican said on Monday, March 10, according to Reuters.

Francis will be in South Korea Aug 14-18, the Vatican said, without giving details of his schedule. The Sixth Asian Youth Day is due to take place in the diocese of Daejeon from Aug 10 to 17.

The leader of the 1.2 billion member Roman Catholic Church, who was elected nearly a year ago, visited Brazil last July and is due to make a trip to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories in May.

The late Pope John Paul visited South Korea twice.