Seoul, Jan 11 : North Korea Monday proposed negotiating a peace treaty to replace the truce that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.

The foreign ministry in Pyongyang also demanded the lifting of UN sanctions against North Korea before stalled six-nation talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons programme could resume.

A peace treaty must be finalised for trust to be built between North Korea and the US, the ministry argued in a statement released by the state-run media.

Seoul, Jan 6 : North Korea used international negotiations to buy time for its nuclear weapons programme, having started a uranium-based programme shortly after a 1994 deal to abandon nuclear weapons, South Korea's foreign minister said Wednesday.

Seoul, Jan 5 : South Korea exported defence products worth $1.17 billion in 2009, officials here said Tuesday.

The better-than-expected performance by mid- and small-tier companies and the diversification of products largely contributed to the increase in the exports of defence products, WAM news agency reported quoting the Acquisition Programme Administration (DAPA).

Seoul, Jan 4 : South Korea plans to push for dialogue with North Korea in 2010, President Lee Myung Bak said Monday after a year of rising tensions amid a North Korean nuclear test, missile launches and threats against its neighbour.

Both countries should work to usher in a "turning point" in their relationship, the South Korean leader said in a television address for the New Year.

Seoul, Dec 31 : An India-South Korea trade agreement going into effect Friday would immediately eliminate tariffs on 7,044 goods traded between Asia's third and fourth-largest economies.

South Korea and India signed their comprehensive economic partnership agreement in August after three years of negotiations as Seoul seeks to ink trade deals with the world's largest economies.

Seoul, Dec 29 - Lee Kun Hee, the former chairman of Samsung Group, was granted a pardon from a tax evasion conviction by the South Korean government Tuesday to help boost the country's bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics.

"The nation's business and sports circles have demanded a special pardon for former chairman Lee, citing the need to boost Pyeongchang's ongoing bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics," Justice Minister Lee Kwi Nam was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency.

Seoul, Dec 29 - North Korea said Tuesday it had detained a US citizen who illegally crossed the border from China, confirming earlier reports that the activist entered the Stalinist state.

Activists have said that Robert Park, 28, crossed into North Korea Friday, carrying a letter for leader Kim Jong Il asking him to liberate concentration camps and raise awareness of Pyongyang's human rights abuses.

Seoul, Dec 29 - South Korea posted a current-account surplus of $41.2 billion in the first 11 months of this year and was expected to book a record figure for the year, the central bank said Tuesday.

The full-year figure should see a surplus of $43 billion, breaking the record of $40.3 billion in 1998, Bank of Korea official Lee Young Bog told reporters in Seoul.

Seasonality caused the current-account surplus to narrow from a revised $4.76 billion in October to 4.28 billion in November.

Seoul, Dec 25 : South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung Hwan summoned the Japanese ambassador Friday over educational guidelines released by Tokyo on rocky islands claimed by the two countries.

The meeting was a repeat of a May 2008 discussion between Yu and Ambassador Toshinori Shigeieto over reports Japan planned to claim the islets as its territory in a revised manual for teachers.

In the new handbook for high school teachers released Friday, the education ministry refrained from naming the disputed islets, called Dokdo by Koreans and Takeshima by Japanese.

Seoul, Dec 18 - Former South Korean prime minister Han Myeong Sook was arrested Friday on suspicion of having taken a $50,000 bribe from a businessman during her tenure, prosecutors said.

The arrest came after Han allegedly refused to answer two previous summons to appear before the Seoul Central District Court.

Han was suspected of taking bribes for appointing businessman Kwak Young Wook as chief executive of a subsidiary of the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. Kwak has already been detained.

Seoul, Dec 11 - Following a meeting with a US special envoy, North Korea indicated Friday that it was ready to resume mothballed international talks to end its nuclear weapons programme.

Quoting an unidentified foreign ministry spokesperson, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the meeting produced a "a series of common understandings on the need to resume the six-party talks", which also include South Korea, Russia, Japan and China.

Seoul, Dec 5 : The coach and players of the South Korean national football team say they have hard nuts to crack in their 2010 World Cup group but the challenge is surmountable.

South Korea, which holds FIFA's best World Cup record in Asia and was a semifinalist of the 2002 tournament at home, is pitted against Argentina, Nigeria and Greece in Group B.

"I think this won't be easy, but we'll have a chance to advance to the next round," coach Huh Jung Moo was quoted as saying by South Korean broadcaster MBC Saturday.

Seoul, Dec 2: South Korean health authorities plan to vaccinate nearly 40 percent of the country's population against the influenza A (H1N1) virus, WAM news agency reported Wednesday.

The vaccination will be carried out on a total of 19.5 million people by the end of February, the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs said. The figure is around 2 million more than the initial inoculation target.

Seoul, Nov. 25 : North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has banned the World Cup from being shown in his country unless the national team wins.

According to The Telegraph, Kim has ordered state-run television not to broadcast live games, and to only screen highlights of North Korea''s victories.

The ruling means that 99 per cent of the country''s 29 million population will not be able to find out who wins the competition unless the 350-1, outsiders win it.

Seoul (S. Korea), Nov. 19 : US President Barack Obama said Thursday the United States has begun talking with allies about fresh punishment against Iran for defying efforts to halt its nuclear weapons pursuits.

Obama''s tough talk came as Iran indicated it would not ship its low-enriched uranium to Russia for processing, the centerpiece of deal aimed at a peaceful resolution of Iran''s contested nuclear program.

Obama advanced the prospect of sanctions but held out the option of diplomacy.

Seoul, Nov. 19 : Having arrived from Chinese capital Beijing, US President Barack Obama said here on Thursday that he will send a special envoy to North Korea next month to continue talks on ending Pyongyang''s nuclear ambitions in exchange for massive aid.

Speaking at a joint news conference with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, Obama also said discussions are under way with U. S. allies about the consequences of Iran''s lack of response to the nuclear deal offered to them.

Seoul, Nov 18 : US President Barack Obama arrived in South Korea Wednesday as part of his four-nation Asia tour.

Obama has visited Japan, Singapore and China. Seoul is the last stop for him.

During his stay in Seoul, Obama will meet his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-bak for a summit early Thursday in a bid to strengthen bilateral ties.

The two leaders are also expected to discuss the speedy ratification of a free trade deal between the two countries.

Seoul - South Korea has for the first time set a target for the reduction of its greenhouse gas emissions in the run up to the UN climate conference in Copenhagen, the government said on Tuesday.

The fourth-largest economy in Asia plans to reduce its emissions by 30 per cent from the predicted level of 2020.

That figure represents a reduction of 4 per cent from its 2005 figure, the President's Office in Seoul said after a cabinet meeting under the leadership of President Lee Myung Bak.

Seoul  - South Korean petrochemicals, battery, textile stand to lose from trade deals between Taiwan and China, likely to be signed in the coming year, traders said Monday.

Taiwan's Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-hsiang met his Chinese counterpart in Singapore Sunday, as cross-strait trade ties appear to be accelerating, and worrying to Koreans.

Seoul, Nov 15 - Ten people, including eight Japanese tourists, were killed and six others injured when a fire broke out at an indoor shooting range in Busan in South Korea, the police said.

The incident took place at about 2.00 p. m. Saturday on the second-floor of the five-storey shooting complex. The fire was put out after about an hour, police said.

An initial probe showed the fire started in a lounge, where seven bodies were found, Xinhua reported.

The Japanese, who were killed in the blaze, were part of a tour programme, police said.