Periodontitis and diabetes mellitus (DM) are chronic diseases that require continuous management and are well known for their mutual relationship. The present study used the most recent Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (KNHANES V and VI) to determine the relationship between active periodontitis and DM in a Korean population. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed with confounding variables to estimate odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals. We enrolled a total of 14,662 participants, and among them, 4,819 participants were diagnosed with active periodontitis and 2,095 were diagnosed with DM. The risk for active periodontitis was 1.20 times higher in the presence of DM adjusted for demographic, socioeconomic and health-related factors, and comorbid disease and was statistically significant (p<0.001). This research has provided evidence of a relationship between active periodontitis and DM in a Korean population.