The South Korean Embassy in Mexico said Thursday it will hold a Korean speaking contest in Havana together with South Korea's Hanyang University and Cuba's Jose Marti Cultural Center.

Twelve finalists, who have been selected from a preliminary test of 25 applicants, will vie for the grand prize in the contest on Saturday.

Hanyang University will invite the top prize winner to South Korea for one month during the summer vacation and offer an opportunity to learn the Korean language and experience Korean culture and traditions.

An increasing number of Cubans are fascinated by the Korean wave hallyu, which refers to the Asiawide boom of Korean pop music, TV dramas and films, according to the embassy.

An embassy official in Mexico also said there are many Cubans who wish to learn Korean. Some of them make hanbok, traditional Korean clothes, themselves and wear them on outings, he said.

The official said the embassy will open another Korean language class for youths this year at the Korean cultural center in Cuba.

Currently, the Jose Marti Cultural Center has a Korean language course, where a lecturer dispatched from the Korea Foundation in Seoul teaches some 100 Cubans. (Yonhap)