The trip, which took reporters from leading Chinese media outlets to cities including Seoul and Gyeongju, was the first of its kind in five years and another major step for China-ROK public diplomacy. An ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs' delegation of journalists visited China in November last year after being invited.

Lee Hee-ok, director of the Sungkyun Institute of China Studies at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul said, "People around my age in the ROK got to know about China through books, novels and movies."

"Young people these days get to know China mainly through the internet and games, which makes them less likely to perceive the reality about China," he told Chinese reporters when highlighting the need to scale up visits between the nations.

Yook Dong-han, mayor of Chuncheon, is a frequent visitor to China. His city has maintained contact and exchanges with many cities in China.

His surname, Yook, reflects the long heritage of his ancestors who migrated from eastern China's Zhejiang province to the Korean Peninsula, he said. "Half of my blood is from China," the mayor said with a smile.

Last year and this year, he traveled to the coastal city of Dalian in northeastern China's Liaoning province. "The great development in Dalian amazed me," Yook said.