SEE ALSO: Korean Won (KRW) hits 15-year low: Korean netizens react with concern
The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) homepage has been flooded with complaints, asking the mayor to change his statement. Various Christian communities reportedly have been encouraging members to vocalize their opposition against Mayor Park's ambitions through phone calls and online comments. Despite these efforts, on October 14, SMG released a statement saying that the mayor stood by his words.
During his interview, Mayor Park had expressed his concern that the influence of the Protestant churches in Korea would prove to be a great obstacle to legalizing same-sex marriage. Currently, Christians make up 30 percent of South Korea's population. The largest Protestant organization called the Christian Council of Korea, representing around 40,000 churches, has made it clear that it opposes gay rights in general.
Back in 2013, the Pew Research Center conducted a survey and found that 59% of Koreans surveyed were against homosexuality. However, there may still be hope for the mayor's campaign as this number is actually a significant drop from the 77% of Koreans surveyed against homosexuality back in 2007.
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