foreign ministry-diplomatic missions
S. Korea to establish new diplomatic missions in 12 countries next year
By Kim Seung-yeon
SEOUL, Nov. 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea plans to establish new diplomatic missions in 12 countries next year in an effort to expand its diplomatic capabilities and functions, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.
The 12 countries are: the Marshall Islands in the central Pacific Ocean; Botswana, Sierra Leone and Zambia in Africa; Suriname and Jamaica in Central and South America; Estonia, Luxembourg, Lithuania and Slovenia in Europe; and Armenia and Georgia in Southwest Asia.
Under the plan, the embassy branches in Jamaica and Georgia will be promoted to embassies, while new embassy branches will be built in Botswana and Suriname.
The remaining eight countries will have new South Korean embassies established in accordance with the principle of reciprocity as they already have their embassies in Seoul.
"We expect that it will allow South Korea to show leadership as a 'global pivotal state' and help boost our diplomacy," the official said.
That raises the total number of South Korean diplomatic missions around the world to 177, which excludes embassy branches and consular offices. South Korea has diplomatic relations with 192 countries.
"It is part of our efforts to build up our diplomatic infrastructure under the consideration that our existing networks of overseas missions may have not been sufficient as we went through some international elections, including reelection to the U.N. Security Council as a nonpermanent member," a foreign ministry official said.
Various factors have been taken into account in the selection of the 12 countries, including trade, tourism and the number of South Koreans staying in those countries, officials said.
In case of the Marshall Islands, South Korea is one of only eight host countries around the world in which the Pacific island country has a diplomatic mission.
Luxembourg and Suriname are two countries that participated in the 1950-53 Korean War.
The ministry said it plans to finalize the administrative and legislative process required for the opening of the new missions by the end of this month.
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