1. At the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, a 25-member delegation of the People’s Republic of China, composed of mid-level officials from foreign affairs offices of 15 Chinese provincial governments, will visit the ROK from March 11 until 15 for the ROK-China future-oriented exchange program.

※ The delegation consists of working-level officials handling exchanges between the ROK and Chinese provincial governments from 15 Chinese provinces, including Jilin, Anhui, Guizhou, Hubei, Hainan, and Shandong.

2. Pursuant to the agreement between the Presidents of the ROK and China, the ROK Foreign Ministry has held the invitation program for Chinese provincial governments’ mid-level officials in charge of political, media and cultural affairs as well as various other matters since 1999. The delegation for the 1st exchange program in 2019 is the largest ever in terms of the number of provinces (15 provinces) and size.

3. In Seoul, the Chinese delegation will meet with Foreign Ministry officials, visit Changdeokgung Palace, and have an opportunity to experience traditional Korean culture. The delegation will then travel to Jeju Island, and meet with officials dealing with exchanges between provincial governments to better understand the ROK.

4. The purpose of the ROK-China future-oriented exchange program is to provide China’s provincial government officials handling exchanges with other countries with opportunities to experience the ROK firsthand and understand the country. The Chinese delegation’s forthcoming visit to the ROK is expected to contribute to enhancing the ROK-China relations and facilitating exchanges between provincial governments of the two countries.

* unofficial translation