The Seoul Metropolitan Government is to offer financial support to cultural events held by the foreign community here, officials said Wednesday.

The city will cover up to 80 percent of the event costs or 6 million won ($5,320) for selected events.

Since 2003, the city has offered such financial support to give opportunities for both foreign residents and locals to better communicate through cultural activities.

Last year, the city provided 63 million won for 14 cultural events, including Mongolian traditional festival Naadam, an athletic meeting of Korean-Chinese people and a laborers’ event hosted by the Vietnamese Embassy in Korea.

Foreign embassies, communities and civic groups can apply for the program through Feb. 25.

They are required to submit documents, including an application form, introduction of the organization and detailed plan for the event, in English or Korean.

More information can be found at the city’s website (seoul.go.kr), the Seoul Global Center (global.seoul.go.kr) and other support centers for foreign residents.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)