Raising big chick balloons and other Easter symbols, about 4,000 Christians marched in central Seoul on Sunday in South Korea's first large-scale Easter parade.

Paraders, some featuring a procession of the Ark of the Covenant and a cross structure and others with musical instruments and in inline skates and unicycle, set out from Gwanghwamun Square early afternoon to march through Seoul Plaza back to the square.

The parade, organized by the United Christian Churches of Korea (UCCK), featured not only religious events but also festive elements, such as a percussion band, a choir and a traditional mask dance.

An Easter music concert was also scheduled to take place at Gwanghwamun Square at 5:30 p.m.

Traffic was closed on the route.

Kam Kyung-cheol, a co-organizing head of the parade, said it was the first large-scale Easter parade in central Seoul in the 140-year mission history of Christianity in Korea."

Christian and Catholic churches nationwide celebrated Easter Sunday with Easter services and Masses, with President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, attending a service at Youngnak Presbyterian Church in central Seoul.

Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick said "Let us open our eyes to the fact that there are neighbors under harsher difficulties and start from something small through which we can extend a warm hand and walk together," in a Mass at Myeongdong Cathedral in central Seoul.

Source: Yonhap News Agency