UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei answers a question to reporters after his arrival at the Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, October 3, 2004. Elbaradei arrived in South Korea as his agency is investigating Seoul's past unauthorized atomic activities. (Xinhua Photo/AFP)

    SEOUL, Oct. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei arrived in Seoul on Sunday for a four-day visite here.

    The main purpose of the visit by ElBaradei is to attend an international conference, the 54th Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs, scheduled for Oct. 5-8.

    Pugwash meeting was named after the location of the first meeting, which was held in 1957 in the village of Pugwash, Nova Scotia, Canada. Most sessions of the meeting are behind the door.

    Influential scholars and public figures from various countries attend the annually meeting in private to discuss ways how to reduce the danger of armed conflict and seeking cooperative solutions for global problems.

    ElBaradei's South Korea trip comes as Seoul awaits a verdict from the IAEA on its controversial experiments involving nuclear materials. The two one-off experiments, one in 1982 and the other in 2000, led to the production of small amounts of plutonium and enriched uranium, the two main types of fissile material used in nuclear weapons.

    Upon arrival, ElBaradei is to meet South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon and attend a dinner hosted by Ban at Shilla Hotel in downtown Seoul.

    On next Monday, he is scheduled to pay a call on South Korean Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan. Meetings with Unification Minister Chung Dong-young and Science Minister Oh Myung are scheduled for Tuesday, according to local media reports.

    "In meetings with Director General ElBaradei, the government plans to express our intention to provide active cooperation to the IAEA and ask the IAEA to conduct a fair investigation," South Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement earlier.

    South Korea has repeatedly claimed it has no intention to develop nuclear weapons, but suspicious still have with the two experiments.

    The UN nuclear watchdog is scheduled to make a final decision in November on whether to refer the issue to the UN Security Council.

    Two IAEA teams visited South Korea for inspections last month. A third team is expected to visit this month. Enditem