Irish residents participate in St. Patrick's Day parade along the Cheonggye stream on March 15, 2008, in a Seoul City file photo.

Foreign communities in Seoul will be invited to apply for subsidies to hold cultural events in the city this year, the municipal government said Wednesday.

Eligible for the subsidies will be cultural events hosted by foreign embassies, foreign chambers of commerce and other foreign communities anytime from this month till December, a spokesman said. Financial support will also be available for local civic groups that organize foreign residents' cultural events, reflecting the currently worsening domestic economic environment, he said.

Interested parties will have to send their applications in English or Korean to the Competitiveness Policy Division of the city by Jan. 30, in person, via e-mail or postal mail. Details of their projected events and the introduction of their communities will have to be included, he said.

Successful applicants will receive subsidies of up to 80 percent of their expenses. The grants, however, will not exceed 600 million won at a minimum of 4 million won per event.

Details are available in English, Chinese, Japanese and French in the public notice area on the city's homepage, http://www.seoul.go.kr, and at Seoul Global Center's homepage, http://global.seoul.go.kr.

``The project aims at helping foreign residents in Seoul introduce their traditional culture and provide Seoul citizens with the chance to enjoy diverse world cultures,'' said the spokesman.

Last year, 14 foreign residents' cultural events, including the Irish festival, St. Patrick's Day, and the Mongolian traditional festival, Naadam, received a combined 54 million won, according to the city.