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UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is visiting Korea on Thursday for the first time since he was appointed to head the world body. Coming from China, Ban will spend five days in Korea until he leaves for the G8 Summit in Hokkaido, Japan next Monday.
The government is preparing a special protocol for the first homecoming since he was sworn into office in December 2006 of the highest ranked official as an international organization the country has ever produced. Prime Minister Han Seung-soo will welcome Ban at Seoul Airport and will oversee a welcoming ceremony -- exceptional treatment considering that it is usually the foreign minister who welcomes even heads of state of allied nations.
Ban will meet with President Lee Myung-bak on Friday, and attend a lecture on climate change in the National Assembly. On the first day of his visit, Ban is also scheduled to meet with Korea¡¯s first astronaut Yi So-yeon. Yi, who took an UN flag to the international space station, will return the flag to Ban. Yi received the flag from the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UN-OOSA) on Feb. 21 and conducted a ceremony at the space station in April for friendly relations between Korea and the UN.
Ban will be given an honorary doctorate in international relations from his alma mater Seoul National University on Thursday afternoon, and give a lecture titled ¡°A Stronger UN for a Better World¡± to students.
He will also visit the UN peacekeeping operation forces in Korea, and meet with high-profile names from various walks of life to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation between Korea and the UN.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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