Seoul, Nov 25 (IANS): South Korea will officially open a consulate on the Indonesian resort island of Bali later this week to offer better consular services to its citizens and travellers, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.

The consulate began operations in March to support Korean nationals' Covid-19 vaccinations and passport services, but its formal opening has been delayed due to the pandemic, the ministry said.

The opening ceremony will be held on Friday and be attended by Park Tae-sung, South Korea's ambassador to Indonesia, as well as local government officials and Korean residents, Yonhap news agency reported.

The ministry said the new consulate is expected to improve consular services for Korean residents and travellers in Bali and eastern Indonesia.

Bali is one of the major tourism spots in the Southeast Asian nation, drawing over 213,000 Koreans in 2019 before the pandemic, according to the government data.