By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will meet South Korea's first astronaut, Yi So-yeon, in Seoul, Thursday, to congratulate her on a successful space mission in April, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Monday.
Ban, a former foreign minister of South Korea, will arrive here Thursday with his wife, Yoo Soon-taek, for a five-day visit as part of his two-week-long Northeast Asian tour.
He will make a courtesy call on President Lee Myung-bak Friday, and meet Prime Minister Han Seung-soo and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Yu Myung-hwan.
``After landing in Seoul, Ban will give a speech to encourage Korean troops participating in U.N. peacekeeping missions, and U.N. officials in South Korea. After that, he will move to the Lotte Hotel in central Seoul to meet Yi,'' a ministry spokesman said.
Ban will receive a U.N. flag that she carried during her 12-day stay at the International Space Station, the spokesman said.
The secretary general is visiting Seoul at the invitation of the Korean government. It is his first trip to his homeland since he took over the top U.N. job last year.
Ban arrived in Japan Saturday for the tour which will also take him to China. He will return to Japan, Monday, to attend the G8 summit on the northern island of Hokkaido. He met Japan's Prime Minister Yasuo Hukuda Sunday, and will meet Chinese President Hu Jintao Tuesday.
During his stay in Seoul, Ban is expected to call for the government to increase its role in U.N. operations and to support its campaigns on global warming, the food crisis and poverty.
After meeting Yi, he will visit Seoul National University, his alma mater, to receive an honorary doctorate in diplomacy. He graduated from the university in 1970 and took a master's degree in public administration at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government in 1985.
On Friday, Ban will attend a dinner hosted by President Lee at Cheong Wa Dae. The next day, he will visit his hometown, Umseong, North Chungcheong Province, and give a speech at Chongju University.
He will hold a breakfast meeting in Seoul with senior journalists of major newspapers and broadcasting companies, before ending his Seoul trip.