SEOUL - UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon arrived in South Korea on Thursday for his first trip to his homeland since he took up the top post.

Prime Minister Han Seung Soo greeted Mr Ban upon his arrival at a military airport in southern Seoul, a diplomatic honour which had not been granted for nearly a decade. The foreign minister usually receives visiting dignitaries.

'I'm very happy and filled with deep emotion to come back to my homeland and extend my greetings to you 18 months after taking office,' Mr Ban said.

Dozens of South Korean officials warmly greeted the UN chief, who inspected a military honour guard amid a gun salute.

He urged South Korea to contribute more to the international community, which he said now faces a series of problems such as climate change and soaring oil and food prices.

'As a Korean secretary general of the United Nations, I will do my best to help South Korea build up its national power,' he said.

Mr Ban also said that his visit coincides with 'encouraging developments' in efforts to denuclearise North Korea, which last week delivered a long-awaited declaration on its nuclear programmes and blew up part of its atomic reactor.

Mr Ban took over from Mr Kofi Annan of Ghana in January last year as the world body's eighth secretary general and the first Asian since Burma's Mr U Thant from 1961 to 1971.

Mr Ban, who served as South Korea's foreign minister from 2004-2006, was set to receive a hero's welcome from officials and citizens during his five-day stay.

He began his visit on Thursday by meeting troops due to be dispatched to Lebanon to join a UN peacekeeping force. South Korea sent 350 soldiers to southern Lebanon last year.

He will then receive a UN flag from South Korea's first astronaut Ms Yi So Yeon, who took it into space in April with her.

Late Thursday, Mr Ban will receive an honorary doctorate from his alma mater Seoul National University, and have dinner with Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan.

On Friday he plans to pay respects at the National Cemetery in Seoul before delivering a speech in parliament on climate change. He will also meet Mr Yu, the prime minister and President Lee Myung Bak and hold a press conference.

On Saturday, Mr Ban is to travel to his hometown of Eumseong, 130 kilometres south of Seoul, and to the nearby city of Cheongju where he will watch college students hold a model UN General Assembly.

He will leave Seoul on Monday to attend the G8 summit in Hokkaido. -- AFP