The Seoul city government said Thursday it has rejected an application from a LGBTQ festival organizer to establish a non-profit foundation, citing concerns of social conflict if the request were to be approved.

The city government sent a letter Wednesday to the Seoul Queer Culture Festival (SQCF) Organizing Committee explaining its reasons for rejecting the application filed in October of 2019.

The city government said it "assessed there being factors that could disrupt the public interest due to social conflicts" and therefore rejected the request to establish a non-profit foundation.

It also stated that if "confirmed" past misdemeanor offenses and questionable activities linked to the SQCF, such as selling products depicting genitalia at booths during past events.

The organizing committee rebuked the Seoul city government's decision and claimed that it was engaging in "clear discriminatory administrative action." It also explained that the head of the committee was cleared of charges connected to incidents at past SQCF events.

The committee stated that it will pursue all possible legal actions in response to the rejection, including filing an administrative litigation against the city government. (Yonhap)