Protests and scuffles greeted the Olympic flame as it began a two-day journey on the divided Korean peninsula today.
It was guarded along the route by thousands of riot police wielding shields and truncheons.
The torch relay in South Korea began at a park used for the 1988 Seoul Olympics and followed a 22km route kept secret until the last minute.
Pro-China demonstrators vastly outnumbered protestors at Olympic Park in southeastern Seoul where the relay began.
Thousands of Chinese gave a huge cheer as the tightly guarded relay started, accompanied by 60 track-suited police runners.
Another 60 will take over at the halfway point of the 24km relay route.
Two police helicopters circled the park and thousands of police officers were deployed in the area, vastly outnumbering scattered groups of protestors at the park.
Riot officers also guarded local subway stations.
Activists had hoped to draw thousands to the area to protest at China's actions in Tibet, and its policy of forcibly repatriating North Korean refugees who flee across the border.
The torch will be flown later today to North Korea, a strong ally of China, which has arranged an elaborate protest-free welcome.
Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama has warned that talks with China would be pointless unless Beijing is serious about finding a solution to the vexed Tibetan issue.
A spokesman for the spiritual leader said that there have been six rounds of talks but nothing happened and this time if China is serious then it is good, but if it wants to show the world that 'we are talking' then there is no use in meeting.
