Tim Hortons will open its first store in South Korea this year, officials said Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Canada's top coffee chain officially began preparing for the opening of its shop in the Urban Hive building in Seoul's southern Gangnam district later this year, the officials said.

The exact date of the opening has yet to be determined.

The 335-square-meter store will serve Tim Hortons' popular coffee and donuts, including its signature bite-sized Timbits.

"We are very happy to introduce Tim Hortons to South Korea, which has a vibrant coffee market where coffee consumption per person is almost threefold the global average," said Rafael Odorizzi, the president of Restaurant Brands International for the Asia-Pacific region. RBI is a Canadian American quick-service restaurant company that owns Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs.

Tim Hortons, a global coffee chain founded in Canada in 1964, currently operates over 5,600 stores in 16 countries across the world, including the United States and China.

South Korea will be the seventh Asian country to have a Tim Hortons shop following China, India, Pakistan, Thailand and two others. (Yonhap)