In surface, South Korea is only 3 times bigger than Belgium, but it has 50 million inhabitants compared to Belgium's 11 million. Still, many western people are not familiar with South Korean culture as such - they mainly associate the country with car builders Hyundai or multimedia giants Samsung - a gap the Korean Foreign Office wants to fill by opening a new cultural centre.

"We already have a cultural centre in different other European cities like London, Paris, Madrid, Berlin, Warsaw, Budapest, Moscow and Istanbul. South Korea also wants to be present in the capital of Europe", spokesman Lennert Daeleman told Brusselnieuws.

The cultural centre will be housed in a multifunctional building that can host exhibitions, concerts or other events. It will also include a library with Korean books - 150 of which in European languages - and DVDs. If all goes well, the Korean centre will be opened on 24 November.

Read more about Korean Cultural Centres worldwide and the KOCIS - Korean Culture and Information Service