WASHINGTON -- A well-known North Korean defector said Tuesday that he hopes Pope Francis will pray for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un if the two men meet.

Ji Seong-ho, who rose to prominence after being invited to US President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech this year, was commenting on news that Kim had invited the pontiff to visit Pyongyang.

"I am for the pope's visit to North Korea. I don't oppose that," he said during a forum here. "But I would like the pope to pray for the god known as Kim Jong-un. I would like the North Korean people to see the pope lay his hand on Kim's head and pray for him. That would be very meaningful."

Kim extended the invitation during his meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang last month, according to the South's presidential office. The Vatican has yet to publicly comment on the offer.

North Korea is accused of serious human rights abuses, including religious persecution. Ji said North Koreans caught going to church are sent to political prison camps along with their families.

He called for greater attention to the North's human rights situation as negotiations are underway to dismantle the regime's nuclear weapons program.

In return for denuclearization, Pyongyang has sought a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in an armistice and left the North and the United States technically still at war.

South Korea has also backed the signing of an end-of-war declaration by year's end as an incentive for the North to denuclearize.

"I believe the North Korean human rights issue should be included on the agenda of any end-of-war declaration," Ji said. "We talk about peace, but we do not want peace that is placed on top of a pile of bodies." (Yonhap)