A Buddhist monk, identified only as Sugyeong, told Yonhap News Agency the street rally outside Seoul's City Hall represented a new religious movement aimed at supporting civic rallies throughout the Asian country.

"The 1 million candles firmly showed that the owner of this nation is the people," the monk said.

The South Korean government reached an agreement with the United States last week that allows U.S. beef products to once again be brought into the country.

Some citizens had been fearful of the imported meat due to concerns about mad cow disease. South Korean officials have attempted to dissuade such fears by only accepting meat from cattle younger than 30 months old.

Yonhap said such reassurances did not pacify opponents of the imports, who demanded a new agreement be reached and ratcheted up their protests against the current deal.