Pope Francis arrives in South Korea

The Pope arrived in Seoul this morning aheard of a five-day visit in South Korea, meeting some of the country's five million Catholics on the first papal trip to the country in 25 years.

During his packed visit, the Pope will beatify 124 Korean martyrs, help celebrate the 6th Asian Youth Day, which is a gathering of Asian Catholic youth, and hold Holy Mass for Peace and Reconciliation, expected to be aimed at prayers for peace, including South and North Korean relations.

Church officials in the South had sent several requests to Pyongyang to send a group of Catholics to attend the event, but the North declined the offer, citing its anger at upcoming South Korea-US military drills.

North Korea fired three short-range rockets into the Sea of Japan just before Pope Francis arrived in Seoul on his first visit to Asia.

The last rocket was fired 35 minutes before Pope Francis was due to touch down.