This year's pride event, in Seoul, South Korea drew around 150,000 participants, despite venue denials by the authorities.

Same-sex marriage remains unrecognised in South Korea.

The Christian community's influence in South Korea complicates the push for LGBTQ rights, with anti-discrimination legislation stalled amidst opposition from conservative and religious groups.

Nearly a quarter of the country's population is Christian and churches remain a significant political arena, particularly for legislators.

LGBTQ festivals in South Korea have often been targeted by evangelical Christian groups, who have thrown water bottles, verbally abused pride participants and tried to block their route by lying down in the street.

Close to the main streets where the festival was held on Saturday (1st June) Christian protesters denounced LGBTQ rights, holding signs that read "No!! Same-sex Marriage" and "The country built with blood and sweat is collapsing due to homosexuality."

Chief pride event organiser Yang Sun-woo told The Union of Catholic Asian News: "The anti-discrimination law has not been passed for 17 years... It would not be an exaggeration to say that the human rights of sexual minorities in South Korean society are regressing."

Human rights lawyer and LGBTQ activist Chang Suh-yeon told the outlet she finds the persistence of the annual event amidst backlash "truly remarkable."

The event was forced to relocate due to a "scheduling conflict" cited by authorities, with Seoul’s conservative mayor Oh Se-hoon expressing personal disagreement with homosexuality.

Nonetheless, global organisations like the US embassy and Amnesty International participated in support.