Kabul, Afghanistan ? Afghanistan ordered hundreds of South Korean Christians to leave the country, accusing them Thursday of seeking to undermine its Islamic culture.

The group’s leader, Choi Han-woo, denied the 1,200 South Koreans, who had gathered in Afghanistan for relief work and a cultural festival, took part in any religious activities.

Interior Ministry spokesman Yousef Stanezai said the Koreans entered the country with tourist visas, but their activities showed they had a different agenda.

“The program was against the Islamic culture and customs of Afghans,” he said, adding that the South Koreans had been told to leave as soon as possible.

The accusations come amid increasing intolerance and violence against foreign troops in Afghanistan, a crackdown in the capital on drinking and prostitution linked to foreign influences, and the recent announcement of a plan to reinstate the Vice and Virtues Ministry, which enforced its harsh version of Islamic morality under the ousted Taliban government.