Pope Francis's arrival in the South Korean capital last Thursday coincided with the test-firing of three short-range rockets by North Korea. In the state-run Korean Central News Agency, North Korean rocket scientist Kim In Yong insisted that the Pope was at fault for planning his visit on the predetermined day of the test firing "though there are lots of days in the year." This, then, marked the latest in a series of North Korean rocket launches that have "coincidentally" lined up with holidays and political occasions for which the so-called hermit kingdom spares little affection - among them America's Independence Day in 2006, and the eve of the 2003 inauguration of former South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun.
North Korea's cryptic response to the Pope's arrival in Seoul is emblematic of the nation's complicated relationship with religion in general. Its constitution formally grants citizens religious freedom, but in reality, religious practice is punishable by public execution or banishment to the nation's kwan-li-so prison camps. The few churches in Pyongyang are maintained by the state in order to give the appearance of religious practice; congregants are actors bussed in to services for the benefit of tourists. In a gesture of good will, South Korea invited North Korea to send a delegation to the Pope's visit, but the North declined.
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