Seoul was chosen on Sunday as the host of a global Catholic Church event for young people in 2027.
Pope Francis announced the South Korean capital as the host of the 2027 World Youth Day during the closing Mass for this year's event in Lisbon on Sunday.
Seoul archdiocese estimates between 700,000 and 1 million pilgrims, including about 300,000 from overseas, will attend the 2027 World Youth Day.
World Youth Day brings together young Catholics from around the world in celebration of their faith. The first World Youth Day was held in 1985. Since 2002, World Youth Day has been held every three years, but after 2011, the subsequent event was held one year earlier than scheduled, in 2013, in Rio de Janeiro, to avoid conflict with the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
The 2022 event was postponed until this year due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The last Asian host of World Youth Day was Manila, capital of the Philippines, in 1995.
Source: Yonhap News Agency