Pope Francis met relatives of South Korea's ferry disaster Friday as 45,000 ecstatic people packed into a sports stadium for a mass on the first papal trip to Asia in 15 years.

Two North Koreans swam across the sea border with South Korea on Thursday, Seoul's Unification Ministry said, in a rare maritime defection across the tense boundary. 

Two men -- in their 20s and 50s -- swam across the Yellow Sea border to the South's island of Gyodongdo at around 4:00 am (1900 GMT Wednesday), where they were spotted by local marines.

North Korea fired three short-range projectiles into the sea off its east coast Thursday, South Korea said, as Pope Francis arrived in Seoul for a five-day visit.

"North Korea fired three short-range projectiles into the East Sea (Sea of Japan)," a defense ministry spokesman said.

Pope Francis called for an end to "displays of force" on the divided Korean peninsula Thursday, as North Korea marked his arrival in Seoul for a five-day visit by firing short-range rockets into the sea.

South Korea's military outlined measures Wednesday to curb barrack-room bullying, following a series of incidents and suicides involving young soldiers serving in isolated frontline units.

South Korea on Monday proposed a fresh round of high-level talks with North Korea to discuss another possible reunion for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.

The first round held in February had marked the highest-level official contact between the two Koreas for seven years and led to a family reunion later the same month.

South Korea said Monday it would provide $13.3 million in funding for U.N. humanitarian projects in North Korea -- its second indirect aid package for the North in a month. 

Seoul's Unification Ministry seven million dollars would go to World Food Program (WFP) projects in the North, and $6.3 million to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Pope Francis will call for inter-Korean reconciliation during his trip to South Korea next week but is not expected to travel to the demilitarized zone, the Vatican said on Thursday.

"I don't think such a plan is being considered. I don't expect it will happen, though the pope is always capable of surprises," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said during a press conference ahead of the August 13 to 19 trip.

Recent satellite images of North Korea's main nuclear complex suggest continued activity focused on the production of both weapons-grade plutonium and uranium, a U.S. think-tank said Thursday.

The son of a Canadian couple under investigation for alleged spying in China called Wednesday for Ottawa to help prevent charges being laid against his parents.

Kevin Garratt and Julia Dawn Garratt "are suspected of gathering and stealing intelligence materials about, among other things, China's military objectives and important national defense research projects,” China's foreign ministry said in a faxed statement Wednesday.