On Tuesday the Seoul Administrative Court ruled in favor of gay pride organizers, invalidating a police ban on the parade imposed last month.

The police had ruled to disallow the parade due to fears of conflict with conservative christian groups.

The parade will now take place on June 28, wrapping up the three-week festival celebrating sexual minorities. More than 20,000 people are expected to attend.

"Assemblies can be prohibited only when they directly threaten public order," the court said in a statement. It also noted that the organizers of the annual parade had long been preparing for the event and therefore would suffer great damage should the event be scrapped.

"We welcome the decision," Mr Kang Myeong Jin, chief of the Korea Queer Culture Festival told journalists. "The court has sent a message to the public that sexual minorities should also be guaranteed rights to speech as a member of a democratic society."

The Korean Queer Culture Festival is now in its 15th year and has been growing in size and popularity. However, critics have also been increasing and last year christian activists lay down in the street to halt the march.