S. Korea's newly appointed cardinal Yeom leaves for Vatican

South Korea's newly appointed cardinal, Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, left for the Vatican on Sunday for a formal ceremony this weekend to make his new title official.

"I feel a big responsibility," Yeom said ahead of his trip to the Holy See. "I would appreciate if you pray for me."

Yeom is set to attend a Vatican ceremony on Saturday, in which Pope Francis will install Yeom and 18 other churchmen as new cardinals.

The 71-year-old, who served as archbishop of Seoul, will be South Korea's third cardinal, following the late Cardinal Kim Sou-hwan and Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk.

Yeom plans to meet with Pope Francis on Feb. 24 before returning home.

South Korea has a Catholic community of more than 5 million, a sizable portion of its population of nearly 49-million people whose religious heritage is largely based on Buddhism. (Yonhap)