SEOUL, June 13 (Reuters) – Thousands of people gathered in central Seoul on Saturday for an annual LGBTQ pride parade, while a conservative Christian group held a nearby counter-rally, organisers and police said.
The Seoul Queer Culture Festival has long drawn both supporters of LGBTQ rights and vocal opposition from conservative religious groups in South Korea, where same-sex marriage is not legally recognised and efforts to pass a comprehensive anti-discrimination law have repeatedly stalled.
The festival’s organising committee set up a stage and around 70 booths from 11 a.m. (0200 GMT) in central Seoul, with the main festival beginning in the afternoon.
The parade, centrepiece of the event, was scheduled to start at 4 p.m. and proceed for about 3 km (1.9 miles), according to organisers and police.
Organisers had told police they expected 50,000 people to attend, Yonhap news agency reported.
A conservative Christian group held a counter-rally from early afternoon, about 700 metres (800 yards) from the pride festival venue. The group said it expected a turnout of 30,000 people and also planned to march.
There have been no clashes between the two gatherings in previous years.
As of 2 p.m., around 15,000 people had gathered in the area for the rival events, according to real-time urban population data provided by the Seoul city administration.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Tom Hogue)
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