The Korean-Malaysian community's long-cherished hope for a school exclusively for their children will be realized this year, organizers in charge of building the school said Friday.

The Korean school, jointly funded by the Korean community in Malaysia and the Seoul Korean government, will open in Cyberjaya near the country's administrative capital of Putrajaya in September.

The move comes five years after the community began a fundraising campaign to build a school in cooperation with the South Korean Embassy in the Southeast Asian country.

Malaysia has about 12,000 Korean residents, but they have experienced difficulties in teaching the Korean language to their children without a formal school.

The new facility will run the standard Korean school curriculum while preschool and primary school students will also learn the English and Chinese languages.

It will start with 84 students -- 14 preschoolers and 70 primary schoolers -- but the number is expected to rise to 220 in 2020.

The South Korean Ministry of Education said it will send nine teachers, including the principal, to support the stable management of the school in its early years.

On Thursday, Seoul's Education Minister Lee Joon-sik visited the construction site of the school to check up on preparations for its opening and encourage the Korean residents there. He was in Malaysia to attend the ASEAN+3 Education Ministers Meeting.

"The biggest difficulty facing Korean residents abroad is teaching Korean language, history and culture to their children," Lee said during the visit. "The government will keep making efforts to ensure the smooth management of the school." (Yonhap)