Seoul - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was welcomed Thursday at a Seoul airport by Prime Minister Han Seung Soo on his first visit to his homeland since taking the top post at the international body last year.

"I am so happy and moved to visit my homeland and meet you 18 months after I took office in January of last year," Ban told reporters and officials waiting for him at a military airport just south of Seoul.

Ban is on a five-day visit and will meet with Foreign Minister Yu Myung Hwan, Prime Minister Han and President Lee Myung Bak on the situation on the divided Korean peninsula, north-east Asian regional issues as well as co-operation between South Korea and the United Nations.

His visit to South Korea comes as developments on North Korea's nuclear issue are encouraging. Last week Pyongyang delivered its delayed nuclear declaration and blew up a cooling tower at its main reactor site.

Ban, who was South Korea's foreign minister before becoming the UN chief in January 2007, will Friday give a speech before the national assembly in Seoul on climate change.

He arrived in Seoul from China as part of an Asian tour that also took him to Japan. He will return to Japan to attend the July 7-9 summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations. (dpa)