Some 7,000 South Korean and overseas couples tied the knot Wednesday in a mass wedding dedicated to "the creation of a peaceful world beyond borders and races", the Unification Church said. Reverend Sun Myung Moon officiated at the "True Parents' Cosmic Blessing Ceremony" at a sprawling exhibition centre in Goyang city north of Seoul, the church said in a statement.
The church describes Moon, 90-year-old founder of the controversial church, and his wife as "True Parents of Mankind" and Moon himself as "the King of all Kings". Moon, sporting a bow tie, and his wife blessed the couples from some 20 countries including South Korea, Japan, the United States, Europe, Africa and Oceania.
Moon's son and successor as church leader Reverend Hyung Jin Moon also attended the event, the second mass wedding in four months. Another 7,500 couples were united last October at Asan south of Seoul. The church was founded in Seoul in 1954 and grew into a world-wide organisation. Organisers say the number of believers is confidential.