SEOUL: Some 2,000 South Korean Christians will gather in Afghanistan next month despite a Kabul government ban on their plans to hold a four-day festival there, organizers said on Wednesday.

Some 1,500 South Koreans, mostly Christians, have already left for Kabul and some 500 others will join them in early August, said Choi Han-Woo, head of the Institute of Asian Culture and Development, a South Korea-based Christian humanitarian group which is among the event organizers.

The group plans to hold a “peace festival” from August 5 to 7 in Kabul, featuring art performances, cinemas, sports competition, free medical service and academic seminars on culture, he said.

But Afghanistan’s government banned the festival after the South Korean government said it considered the event an evangelical movement aimed at propagating the Christian faith, an act that is illegal in Afghanistan.

“However, the 2,000 people, mostly young Christians, will gather there anyway,” Choi told AFP.

“But I don’t know what they can do there as Afghan authorities retracted their earlier promise to cooperate with them and they are unable to find any place to carry out those events.”

The Seoul government has repeatedly warned participants of security risks in Afghanistan. Six government ministries including the foreign ministry here issued a joint statement on Tuesday urging the young Christians to reconsider the trip.

“No matter what we said about the danger and risks, they just would not listen to us,” a frustrated foreign ministry official said.—AFP