South Korea's President Park Geun-hye expressed hope Saturday that South Korea and China could contribute to peace and stability in Northeast Asia, Yonhap reported.
Park said she hoped that South Korea and China could become close neighbors through mutual exchanges of their people.
Tensions persist in the region over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs as well as territorial and other history-related issues between South Korea and Japan and between China and Japan.
Japan ruled the Korean Peninsula as a colony from 1910-45 and controlled much of China in the early part of the 20th century.