Large crowds converged on South Korea’s capital Saturday for competing demonstrations, with an annual LGBTQ pride celebration taking place alongside a conservative Christian counter-protest, according to event organizers and local authorities.
The Seoul Queer Culture Festival has consistently attracted both advocates for LGBTQ rights and strong resistance from conservative religious organizations in South Korea, a nation where marriage between same-sex couples lacks legal recognition and comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation has faced repeated setbacks.
Event coordinators established a performance stage and approximately 70 vendor booths starting at 11 a.m. local time in downtown Seoul, with the main festivities launching later in the day.
The march, serving as the event’s highlight, was set to begin at 4 p.m. and cover approximately 3 kilometers, event planners and police confirmed.
Festival organizers informed police they anticipated 50,000 attendees, according to reports from Yonhap news agency.
A conservative Christian organization staged their opposing demonstration beginning in the early afternoon, positioned roughly 700 meters away from the pride celebration location. This group projected attendance of 30,000 participants and also scheduled a march.
Previous years have seen no violent confrontations between the opposing gatherings.
By 2 p.m., approximately 15,000 people had assembled in the vicinity for both competing events, based on live urban population tracking data from Seoul’s city government.
