Cultured South Koreans have defended Lady Gaga against Christian criticism ahead of her performance in Seoul tonight, the first in her Born This Way Asian tour.

Since her arrival in the country last Friday, Christian groups have been praying for Lady Gaga's concert to be cancelled.

'We will pray to God that the concert will not be realised so that homosexuality and pornography will not spread around the world,' said Kang Ju-Hyun, head of the Alliance for Sound Culture in Sexuality.

Some Christians even protested outside the head office of Hyundai, the official sponsors of the concert.

Performance artist Nancy Lang tweeted: 'Jesus told us to love each other. Lady Gaga is also telling us to love sexual minorities like gays but looks unlikely to promote homosexuality'.

Culture critic Seo Jung Min-gaph told The Korea Herald: 'This clearly shows how Korean society still lacks cultural tolerance and how we are not ready to recognise cultural and social diversity yet. They [the Christian groups] also have the right to voice their own ideas. But they have failed to respect others.'

Some however were not willing to risk the wrath of the Christian mafia in South Korea. One anonymous celebrity told The Korea Herald: 'I don't want to make any comment on this issue because I don't want to be targeted by those Christian groups'.

Protests from Christians successfully raised the age restriction of Lady Gaga's concert from 12 to 18. Korean Gaga-fans under the age of 18 gathered at her hotel, hoping to see the international pop icon. Fifteen-year-old Justin Chan said: 'I can't go to the concert, so I am here. There were more fans here on Sunday, all under-aged, aged between 12 and 17'.

Chan was delivering a letter to Lady Gaga, asking her to do something so that her underage fans can see tonight's concert as well.