By Mirembe Martina

In North Korea, 3,500 couples were wedded at the Unification Church at Cheongshim Peace World Centre in Gapyeong.

The mass wedding took place on Sunday and was the first mass wedding to be held since the very first mass wedding was held at the church in 1961. It was held in Gapyeong, about 60 km (37 miles) northeast of Seoul. The first mass wedding was held by evangelist reverend Moon Sun-myung in 1961 with 33 couples.

More 24,000 followers referred to as “Moonies” were also married in other countries via video link. The ceremony was presided over by Hak Ja-han, the widow of Sun Myung Moon, who died in September last year. One of the married ones, Jin Davidson, a 21-year-old American said, “I was pretty nervous. Then all of a sudden she popped up in front of me, and I said OK.” Jin married a Japanese who did not know English but said they both considered it a challenge for both of them.