Korea has more diplomats in China than any other nation, followed by those from the U.S. and Japan, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

If excluding diplomats working in defense-related areas at the Korean Embassy in the U.S., the number of Korean consuls, economic and state affairs diplomats is the largest in China, the ministry said.

The figures come as China has become the world’s second-largest economy, surpassing Japan in 2010, and emerged as part of the “G-2” with the U.S.

For Korea, 2012 marks the 20th year since diplomatic ties with China were established.

As of the end of January, there were 13 Korean diplomatic missions in the U.S., 10 in China and 10 in Japan.

However, Korean diplomatic missions have opened at a much faster pace in China than in the U.S.

After building official diplomatic ties with China in 1992, Korea has opened a new diplomatic mission every two or three years.

Korea entered into its official relations with the U.S. in 1882 but the number of diplomatic missions remained stagnant.

Beijing has been catching up with Washington in terms of the number of diplomats working in Korea as well.

Currently, about 250 American officials work at their diplomatic missions in Korea, followed by 130 Chinese and 100 Japanese.

The U.S. has two diplomatic missions in Korea ― the embassy in Seoul and the consulate general in Busan. China has four ― the embassy in Seoul and consulate generals in Gwangju, Busan and Jeju. Japan has three ― the embassy in Seoul and consulate generals in Jeju and Busan.

By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)