Pope Francis beautifies 124 Korean martyrs

Pope Francis has beautified 124 Korean martyrs from the late 18th and 19th centuries, a report said Saturday.

According to the report from DPA, the pope recognized the martyrdom of Paul Yun Ji-chung and 123 others who were killed for renouncing Confucianism between 1791 and 1888.

The move comes ahead of Francis' expected trip to South Korea for the Asian Youth Day on Aug. 10-17, the report said.

Some 10,000 Korean adherents to the faith are believed to have been killed since the late 18th century. The first group of them --103 -- were canonized en masse by John Paul II in 1984.

Prior to the latest beautification of Korean martyrs, South Korea had the world's fourth largest number of saints. (Yonhap)