Tag Archives: Seoul

The BBC reports: Fifty-nine people have died in a crush among huge Halloween crowds in a popular nightlife area of South Korea’s capital, officials say. Yonhap news agency cited emergency services saying 150 more had been injured in Seoul’s Itaewon district. Videos from the scene show body bags on the streets, emergency workers performing CPR, and rescuers trying to pull …

The Associated Press reports: Thousands of gay rights supporters marched under heavy police guard in the South Korean capital on Saturday as they celebrated the city’s first major Pride parade in three years after a COVID-19 hiatus. Police established perimeters to separate them from conservative Christian protesters, also numbering in the thousands, who marched in nearby streets. They held up …

The Korea Herald reports: Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon was found dead on Friday, according to police, in what appears to be one of the country’s highest-profile suicides in recent history. The body of Park, 64, was found at Mount Bukak, hours after he was reported missing. The exact cause of his death remained under investigation. Park’s daughter filed a police …

The Korea Daily reports: Seoul’s festival had the theme “Queeround,” signifying that there are LGBT people all around us. According to its organizers, a record number of about 120,000 people took part in the festivities despite the sweltering heat, which reached a high of 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 degrees Fahrenheit). Although the festival was organized by Koreans, there was a …

The Korea Herald reports: Tens of thousands of people marched through central Seoul on Saturday to stand up for equality for sexual minorities in South Korea’s biggest pride parade, despite vocal opposition from anti-gay protesters. Despite sporadic rain, 85,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their supporters gathered at Seoul Plaza, rally organizers said. It was the largest crowd …

Forbes reports: Gay pride faced Christian outrage in central Seoul in a showdown that dramatized the conflict between Korea’s deeply conservative values and the country’s latter-day surge toward democratic equality. Advocates and foes of gay rights clashed after a gay pride rally on the grassy plaza in front of Seoul City Hall that drew several thousand people — many celebrating …

Via Buzzfeed: A court in the South Korean capital Seoul ruled Tuesday that police violated the law when they banned a pride march to be held June 28 as the culmination of the Korean Queer Cultural Festival, according to a press release from organizers. Police had denied permits to hold the march, citing conflicting applications for events that overlapped the …

Citing threats from Christian groups who last year physically blockaded the Seoul Pride parade, last week the Seoul police denied a permit for what would be South Korea’s 16th annual such event. The Korea Queer Cultural Festival kicked off this week anyway, but not without a rabble of Christian protesters who were watched over by about 1000 cops. Via the …

Earlier this week Seoul police banned this year’s gay pride parade, citing threats from Christian groups who disrupted last year’s parade by lying down in the street. Today the parade’s organizers are vowing to stage their event anyway. Woo Ji-Young, executive director of the festival’s organising committee, accused the police of caving in to pressure from conservative Christians. “The police …

Last year Christian activists disrupted Seoul Pride when hundreds lay down in the street to prevent the parade from proceeding. That tactic may prevent this year’s parade from happening at all. Via the Korea Observer: South Korea’s Pride Parade has been rejected by the Namdaemun Police Station and Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency due to pressure from conservative groups according to …

Via press release: At 5 PM on December 10, the fifth day of the sit-in, the mayor requested a private conversation with the protesters. Consequently, a delegation consisting of six representatives from both LGBT activist groups and civil NGOs met with him. From the start, dialogue had been one of the protesters’ demands. During the private conversation, the mayor apologized …

Just two months ago Seoul Mayor Park Won-Soon earned international headlines when he expressed his hope that South Korea would be the first Asian nation to legalize same-sex marriage.  South Korea’s powerful Christian lobby screamed with outrage and Park soon recanted. Yesterday activists occupied Seoul City Hall after Park reportedly refused to allow LGBT rights to be added to the …

Via the Korea Times: The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) postponed a public hearing on gay rights Thursday after some 200 activists opposed to fair treatment of homosexuals stormed into the capital’s City Hall to stop the proceedings. SMG officials initially planned to gather opinions from a range of experts during the hearing in an effort to draft a Charter of …

This weekend the mayor Seoul, Park Won-soon, expressed his hope that South Korea will become the first Asian nation to legalize same-sex marriage. “I personally agree with the rights of homosexuals,” Park said. “But the Protestant churches are very powerful in Korea. It isn’t easy for politicians. It’s in the hands of activists to expand the universal concept of human …

Seoul’s gay pride parade was disrupted multiple times today when hundreds of Christians laid in the path of the floats and refused to move. According to information provided to Gay Star News by a Ph.D student in South Korea, conservative Christians held mass prayer services during the 7 June event. “To put it simply today was a kind of battle …