The New Year has dawned with a number of “firsts” to mark its beginning.

At exactly midnight Saturday four babies were born, becoming the first babies to be born this year, the year of the dragon according to the Chinese zodiac.

At a hospital in central Seoul, a girl and two boys were born as the bell in the Bosingak in Seoul’s Jongno was rung to hail the New Year. At the same hour, another girl was born at a hospital in southern Seoul.

New babies were not the only new arrivals to hail in 2012.

On Sunday, an event was held at Incheon International Airport to mark the first traveler to enter the country in 2012.

The event was organized by the operator of the airport and Korean Air, and the honor of being the first person to enter Korea in 2012 went to a Chinese tourist named Hwang Wui from Shanghai.

Hwang, who said that he visited Korea with his wife to enjoy the Korean winter and popular culture, received two business class return tickets to Korea and a coupon for a stay at a suite at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Incheon.

The first cargo flight to arrive at Incheon airport was the UPS Air Cargo flight from Anchorage, Alaska that landed 30 minutes after midnight.

The first passenger flight to take off from Incheon was the Korean Air flight bound for Dubai, and the first cargo flight was the World Airways’ flight that took off four minutes into the New Year.

By Choi He-suk  (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)