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n a bid to boost cultural exchange between Indonesia and South Korea, the Embassy of The Republic of Korea opened its Korean Cultural Center at the Equity Tower in the Sudirman Central Business District in Central Jakarta on Monday.

“Culture can be a good means to promote relationships among countries. I plan to hold joint performances consisting of performers from Korea and Indonesia in this center,” said Korean Ambassador to Indonesia Kim Young-sun during the inauguration of the center.

The growing popularity of “Hallyu” or the Korean wave has hit European, American and especially Asian continents, including Indonesia, in the past few years.

Korean pop music stars such as Super Junior, 2AM, Miss A and Kim Hyung-jun performed in Jakarta recently. Korean dramas such as Boys Before Flowers, Naughty Kiss and Dream High, which are popular among Indonesian K-pop fans, have been aired on local TV stations. The Korean wave is estimated to generate about US$4 billion in sales this year.

South Korea Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Seo Kang Soo expected the center to serve as a source of information on Korea, including on its culture.

“The purpose of this Korean Cultural Center is also to tighten the relationship between Korea and Indonesia,” he added.

Korean Cultural Center Director Kim Hyun Ki expressed hope that the center would help strengthen the cultural exchange between the two countries.

“I also expect that this center can help Koreans living in Indonesia overcome any homesickness,” he said.

There are around 50,000 Koreans living in Indonesia, making it the biggest foreign community in the country. A representative from Indonesia’s Culture and Tourism Ministry Wardiyatmo said the Indonesian government endorsed the establishment of the center.

“Indonesia has had a good relationship with Korea for 45 years. The mutual relationship [so far] is mainly based around trade and tourism,” he said.

Last year, Korean exports to Southeast Asia’s largest economy reached $7.7 billion, a huge increase from $4.74 billion in 2009.

Meanwhile, the number of Korean visitors to Indonesia has been growing steadily.

In 2009, nearly 240,000 Korean tourists visited Indonesia, while in 2010, the number grew to 281,785 or 17.93 percent, according to the Indonesian Embassy in Seoul’s website.

Occupying a total of 864 square meters, the center has facilities such as a 180-seat hall, library, multimedia room and four classrooms.

The embassy said the center also offered Korean-language courses.

“There have been many people showing interest in learning Korean... We hope we can provide them with this opportunity,” the embassy said in its release.

There are about 130 students who have joined the three-month language course, where teachers are native speakers, center director Kim Hyun Ki said.

The embassy said the new class for the Korean-language course would commence in September.

The center’s library has a collection of about 1,500 books on Korea both in Korean and English languages. It also has a range of DVDs on Korean dramas and “Hallyu” stars.

The building’s interior is decorated with traditional Korean patterns to project an image of Korea that is modern and dynamic, the center said. (aaa)