Pope Francis beatifies 124 South Korean Catholic martyrs

Pope Francis has conducted a large open-air Mass to beatify 124 of South Korea's first Catholics at a ceremony in the capital Seoul on Saturday, the BBC reported.

He paid tribute to the Koreans, who died for their faith in the 18th and 19th Centuries.

It comes on the third day of his visit to South Korea - his first trip to Asia since becoming pope in March 2013.

Pope Francis met survivors of the Sewol ferry disaster and delivered his first public mass in the region on Friday.

The beautification ceremony was held at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, with hundreds of thousands of people in attendance.

Beatification, or declaring a person "blessed," is the necessary prelude to full sainthood.

The Pope is spending five days in South Korea, where the Catholic Church is growing. It currently has just over 5.4 million members, some 10.4% of the population.

Crowds of worshippers lined the streets leading up to Gwanghwamun Plaza for Saturday's ceremony. The square was the site where unrepentant Catholics were paraded before they were publicly executed.

"They were willing to make great sacrifices and let themselves be stripped of whatever kept them from Christ - possessions and land, prestige and honour - for they knew that Christ alone was their true treasure,'' Pope Francis told the crowd in his sermon.

"They challenge us to think about what, if anything, we ourselves would be willing to die for.''