A delegation of young Chinese public officials is visiting South Korea at the invitation of the Korea Foundation to seek exchanges with South Korean municipal governments, the foundation said Tuesday.

The 177-member delegation, led by Wang Yunzhe, vice chief of the China-South Korea Friendship Association, arrived the previous day on an eight-day trip that will take them to the South Korean cities of Gwangmyeong and Daejeon.

The arrival of the group, comprising young public officials in Beijing and other Chinese cities, came after the foundation, affiliated with the South Korean Foreign Ministry, reached a deal in December with the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries to expand youth exchanges.

During its stay in South Korea, the delegation will make a trip to the city of Gwangmyeong, just south of Seoul, to benchmark an exhibition of prehistoric cave drawings from France as a success case of turning an abandoned mine from the Japanese colonial era (1910-1945) into a tourist attraction a few years ago.

Photo dated April 17, 2016, shows people viewing a prehistoric cave drawing from France in a cave in the city of Gwangmyeong, just south of Seoul.(Yonhap)

The Chinese public officials are also scheduled to hold a seminar with their counterparts in the central city of Daejeon to discuss ways to promote trade between the municipalities of the two neighboring countries.

The Korea Foundation is a leading organization of South Korea’s international exchange and public diplomacy initiatives. (Yonhap)