The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-koo Foundation will publish picture books containing the folk tales of five countries from which many immigrant spouses have come to South Korea for marriage.

The city of Seoul said Wednesday that the book series titled "Mother's Whisper" will include fairy tales, including "bánh chưng bánh dày," or "Square Sticky Rice Cake" of Vietnam, and other stories from the Philippines, Mongolia, Thailand and Nepal. 

The books will be written in Korean as well as in the respective local languages.

Seoul City said multicultural family members took part in the project of selecting the stories, writing, drawing illustrations and translating.

Seoul officials said that foreign immigrants who are not proficient in Korean will be able to enjoy the books and that the stories will be educational for their children to learn the mother tongue of their parent.

Ten-thousand copies will be published and distributed to 46 venues across the capital city including public libraries and facilities supporting foreign residents and multicultural families.