"Diplomacy... is based on the firm and persevering conviction that peace can be won through quiet listening and dialogue, rather than by mutual recriminations, fruitless criticisms and displays of force," he said. It is not clear how many Catholics there are in North Korea. After an initial three firings an hour before Francis arrived, North Korea followed up with two others a short time after he landed. Pyongyang has engaged in several such launches in recent months in what it says is a response to US and South Korean provocations - in the latest case, a military drill due to start on Monday. Organizers of the pope's trip had invited a delegation of North Korean Catholics to attend his Aug. 18 Mass for peace and reconciliation at Seoul's main cathedral.  Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Pope Francis: "Korea's quest for peace is a cause close to our hearts" 
 
 Pope Francis urged dialogue between the two Koreas instead of "displays of force" at the start of his five-day visit to South Korea. The pontiff is also attending Asian Youth Day, a festival for young Catholics from across the region, and will meet students who survived the Sewol ferry disaster. The opening day of the visit—Pope Francis' third abroad and the first papal trip to Asia since St. John Paul II went to India in 1999—included meetings with bishops and South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who said the pontiff's decision to make the trip demonstrated his special... Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Rupert Wingfield-Hayes: "South Korea is a huge success story for the Catholic Church" 
 
 Pope Francis is due to visit Asia again in January when he travels to Sri Lanka and the Philippines, one of only two Asian countries with a Catholic majority - the other being East Timor. South Korea's church, which has been growing steadily over the last half century, is seen as a model for the future. The Yonhap news agency reported an increase in sales of rosaries and other Catholic goods, and special displays of books on the pope and Catholicism sprung up in book stores. ___ 
 
 Associated Press writer Christopher Bodeen in Beijing contributed to this story.
– South Korea welcomed Pope Francis today with flowers and a red carpet, as the pontiff kicked off a five-day visit in which he called for peace on the divided peninsula. North Korea, on the other hand, shot off rockets. Pyongyang fired five short-range projectiles off its east coast, including three around the time of the pope's arrival—though none endangered his plane, the Wall Street Journal reports. On his first Asian tour since becoming pope, Francis also marked another first: He made a speech in English, the AP notes. "Quiet listening and dialogue" must replace "mutual recriminations, fruitless criticisms, and displays of force," he said. Though 10 North Korean Catholics were invited to attend Pope Francis' upcoming "reconciliation" mass in Seoul on Monday, the invitation was declined, officials say. Then again, a UN Human Rights Council report this year said Christians "were prohibited from practicing their religion and were persecuted," the BBC notes. The Vatican didn't extend an olive branch only to North Korea, however. In what the Church called "a sign of detente" with Beijing, Francis was allowed to fly through Chinese airspace on his way to South Korea and sent a telegram of prayers to President Xi Jinping as he did so.