Ban Ki-moon arrives in South Korea for first visit to homeland as UN chief

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited his homeland, South Korea, on Thursday for the first time since taking the top job at the world body last year. His five-day visit includes meetings with President Lee Myung-bak and other top officials, a series of speeches and a visit to his rural hometown, where his birthplace is being restored as a tourist attraction. Ban, who was South Korea's foreign minister before becoming the U.N. chief in January 2007, arrived in Seoul from China as part of an Asian tour that also took him to Japan. "I'm so happy and filled with deep emotion as I visit my homeland for the first time in 18 months since my inauguration," Yonhap news agency quoted Ban as saying after his arrival at a military airport south of Seoul. Ban was greeted at the airport by South Korean Prime Minister Han Seung-soo, a... [read full story]