South Korea plans to open a consulate on Cebu, the Philippines, around next month to better provide consular services for a growing number of Korean visitors there, the foreign ministry said Friday.

The South Korean Embassy in the Southeast Asian country "plans to open a branch office on Cebu at the end of next month at the earliest," said a foreign ministry official.

The new office "is to take charge of Cebu and its adjacent resort islands, where an increasing number of South Koreans visit," he added.

The South Korean Embassy in Manila has a difficulty in offering the necessary consular services in a timely fashion due to the geographic location, according to other officials. Cebu City, the second-largest city in the Philippines, is located some 600 kilometers south of Manila.

Cebu is home to some 20,000 South Koreans and draws around 400,000 South Korean tourists per year, according to ministry data. (Yonhap)