Date:06/07/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/06/stories/2008070655221200.htm

— Photo: AFP

In the motherland: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hugs his mother as he visits his birthplace at Haengchi village in Eumseong, 130 km south of Seoul, on Saturday. Mr. Ban received a hero’s welcome as he returned to his native South Korea for the first time after taking up the post.