The Seoul District Court yesterday dismissed a ban sought on the controversial film "The Last Temptation of Christ."
The court decision will allow the movie's distributor, identified as K, to release the film in theaters today as planned.
On Tuesday, a clergy member identified only as Kang filed a court injunction against the distributor, demanding a halt to the local release of the 1988 film directed by Martin Scorsese.
In the petition, Kang argued that the film, which contains love scenes between Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene, profaned Christ and Christianity by depicting events that have no grounds in the Bible.
"The release of such a film will bring about social division and confusion," Kang said.
In dismissing the injunction, the court said there was not enough evidence to back Kang's claims.
The movie's distributor had initially planned to release the film in December, but was unable to find movie theaters willing to show it because of protests from Christian groups, including the Christian Council of Korea.
The movie's distributor insisted the film was not intended to disparage a particular religion.
The film, based on a 1995 novel by Greek author Nikos Kazantzakis, drew protests from some Christians when it was released in the United States in 1988.
There was an attempt four years ago to release the movie in Korea, but it failed due to protests from local Christians.