Bulgaria established diplomatic relations with South Korea 28 years ago and with North Korea long before that, in 1948. During the Cold War, Bulgaria signed a cultural agreement with North Korea in 1955, and writers of the two countries visited one another's country. Based on Bulgarian archives, during the Cold War the Bulgarian government seemed to strictly control which books could be translated into the Korean language. North Korea also strictly controlled which Korean books could be published in Bulgaria. The books were published after having been censored. Most of the Korean books published in Bulgaria during the Cold War were associated politically and ideologically, including memoirs, research books, and books on writers and scholars. Such books were valuable and useful for analysing the situation of North Korea during that period. Bulgaria set up diplomatic relations with the Republic of Korea in 1990, and, since then, Bulgaria and the Republic of Korea have carried out cultural exchanges. These cultural exchanges is not very intensive, but books written by famous classic and contemporary writers from South Korea continue to be translated. From 2009/2010 under the influence of Korean Wave the Bulgarian interest in Korean culture has risen gradually and readers of Korean literature are increasing. In Bulgaria there are organized events, which awake interest in Korean books. Every year an essay writing contest is organized and this year more than 50 Bulgarians have participated in the ninth writing contest. Since 2015 the Korean corner has been established in the Sofia City library to promote Korean literature.