(2014 K-pop Cover Dance Festival / Yonhap)

Foreign visitors here will have a chance to learn how to dance just like K-pop idols from professional choreographers, the Seoul municipal government said Thursday.

It is part of the city's efforts to provide foreign tourists with diverse hands-on experiences while being here so as to attract more of them to South Korea.

Under the project to be pushed jointly by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and S.M. Entertainment, professional dancers affiliated with the country's major management agency will operate K-pop dance classes reserved for foreigners visiting the country.

The classes will be open on Mondays and Tuesdays at SM Town in southern Seoul, according to the city, with Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and S.M. director Kim Young-min clinching an agreement earlier in the day for closer cooperation on the issue.

Since August, when the pilot project was launched, more than 850 K-pop fans from overseas have applied for a class, nearly double the expected capacity of 450 attendees, according to the city.

"The government will form a joint committee with private entities to maximize the hallyu, through which we will be able to create more jobs and to boost the quality of the tourism industry,"
Park said.

"More experience-based programs will be available, such as K-pop vocal classes and Korean language classes with Korean soap operas," he added, vowing strenuous efforts to support relevant industries.

Referred to as the cradle for idol stars, S.M. Entertainment manages dozens of celebrities, including Girls' Generation, Super Junior and EXO. (Yonhap)