At a news conference on Jan 6, President of the Republic of Korea Park Geun-hye said that relations between her country and China have become closer than ever, and she expressed the hope that the two sides will remain committed to improving the well-being of the two peoples and realizing peace and stability in Northeast Asia.

The good momentum in the development of relations between the two countries has served as a positive element amid the security instability caused by the rapidly evolving strategic landscape in Northeast Asia and the faltering denuclearization process on the Korean Peninsula.

In her visit to China in June last year, Park reached consensus with her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on enriching China-ROK relations, and they issued the China-ROK Joint Statement for the Future and the Action Plan to Enrich China-ROK Strategic Cooperative Partnership, charting the course for the development of bilateral relations in the coming years.