According to a report in the Korea Times, Muslim leaders in South Korea will be establishing the first Islamic school in the country that will also accomodate non-Muslim students.

To be funded by a grant from Saudi Arabia, the school will be opened from March 2009. Apart from the state curricula which will all be taught in English, there will be a range of classes in the Islamic studies and Arabic.

Korea Muslim Federation has stated that the school is aimed to serve as a platform correcting misconceptions about Islam. A representative has noted:

"Many (South) Koreans have distorted information about Islam due to some disturbing incidents committed in the past by Muslims, resulting in few Korean converts to Islam."

Muslims make up 150,000 of South Korea's 49 million population, according to official estimates.

52% of the population is Buddhist whereas the Christians constitue 20%. About 25.3% of citizens profess to follow no particular religion.