U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is set to arrive in South Korea on Saturday for a four-day visit to attend an international maritime conference and the closing ceremony for the World Expo in Yeosu, Seoul officials said.

Ban is scheduled to give a keynote speech at the global conference on Sunday to mark the 30th anniversary of the opening for signature of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, officials said.

Co-organized by the Korean government and the U.N., the one-day conference in the southern coastal city of Yeosu will bring together high-ranking officials in global maritime affairs, including Koji Sekimizu, the secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization, and Patricia O'Brien, the U.N.

under-secretary-general for legal affairs and counsel.

In Yeosu, Ban is due to join the closing ceremony for the Expo, which will wrap up its 93-day run on Sunday. A total of 105 countries and 10 global organizations have held exhibitions under the theme of "The Living Ocean and Coast."

On Monday, Ban will attend a ceremony in Seoul to launch the Development Alliance Korea, a coalition of local civic groups to promote overseas development aid, and the opening ceremony of the Seoul National University Global Medical Center.

Ban will also meet with Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik and National Assembly Speaker Kang Chang-hee.

The visit by Ban to South Korea is "expected to serve as a good opportunity to create public consensus on the need to strengthen Korea's role in the international community," Seoul's foreign ministry said in a statement. (Yonhap News)