Pope Francis has called for dialogue between Pyongyang and Seoul at the beginning of his five day trip to South Korea, on his first trip to Asia.

However, North Korea greeted the pontiff with a defiant gesture, firing rockets as the papal plane approached South Korean airspace.

Not easily ruffled, he continued his visit as planned meeting families of victims and survivors of the ferry disaster which killed more than 300 people in April.

He also started the mass to a crowd of 50,000 assembled at the World Cup stadium in Daejeon.

During the mass, Pope Francis once again appealed to Catholics to live a frugal life asking them to ‘combat the allure of materialism’.

Rapid economic growth has made South Korea the 29th richest country in the world, but deep inequalities exist.