Three Thousand Couples Mass Wedding in South Korea

At least 3,000 couples from 62 countries followed the event of a mass wedding held by the Unification Church in South Korea.

Ryu Kyeung-Seuk, South Korea branch church president explained that in addition to a couple who were present on the spot, 12 thousand other couples also participate in the event through the internet.

The founder of the Unification Church, Reverend Sun Myung Moon who died at age 92 in 2012 and had married thousands of couples in mass wedding since the 1960s.

Widow Moon, Hak Ja Han Moon, inaugurated the mass wedding ceremony this year was held on Saturday (20/2) and witnessed by 22 thousand followers of the church and guests gathered in the church for World Peace Centre at the Cheong Shim Gaepyoung, about 75 kilometers from northeast Seoul.

Not only newlyweds, there are also couples who had previously been married. They returned to say that solemn oath before joining in the ceremony.

"We've been engaged for a year, but we are often not together, so of course I feel very happy to be with my wife again," said Hyo-joo Song of England, who married a Japanese woman, quoted by Reuters.

"Yes, we are very happy to be married [here] and can share this experience with a lot of people."

This mass wedding culture often creates harsh criticism. Because, it remains unclear how the Unification Church founded Moon get the money to finance the mass weddings.

In addition, the Moon ever created controversy because it had been imprisoned in the US on the case of tax evasion. In 1992, he and his wife said they were saviors to their group. Not surprisingly, many consider this church run sekter religion.