More diplomatic missions under consideration in China

South Korea is looking to increase its number of diplomatic missions in China, Yonhap News reported Thursday.

The agency quoted an unidentified source as saying that the foreign ministry hopes to add missions in eight Chinese cities, including Tianjin, Dalian, Harbin and Macao.

South Korea currently has an embassy in Beijing and eight consulates general across China.

"There are about 6 million South Korean visitors to China every year, and the number of South Korean companies entering the Chinese market has increased rapidly," the source said. "Under such circumstances, our missions cannot handle all the diplomatic demands. To protect our citizens abroad and to help promote trade, there have to be more missions."

The ministry is in talks with the finance and public administration ministries over budgetary issues and is expected to hold discussions with the Chinese government as well.

The ministry said it is also planning to establish missions in Haiti, Madagascar, Zambia, Uganda, Rwanda and Latvia. As of May this year, South Korea had 156 overseas missions.