Seoul  - Shares jumped more than 5 per cent Tuesday on the Seoul stock exchange on bargain hunting after recent huge losses. South Korea's currency lost further ground against the dollar.

Seoul  - North Korea's military threatened Monday to quit an industrial cooperation project if South Korean activists do not stop dropping propaganda leaflets in its territory.

The North urged the South in a meeting between military officers from both countries to put a stop to the leaflet distribution, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said. The meeting took place on the border between the two countries near the town Paju on South Korea's west coast.

Pyongyang complained at the gathering at the inter-Korean border that the leaflet drops by South Korean organizations was increasing.

Seoul - North Korea's military threatened Monday to quit an industrial cooperation project if South Korean activists do not stop dropping propaganda leaflets in its territory.

The North urged the South in a meeting between military officers from both countries to put a stop to the leaflet distribution, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said.

Pyongyang complained at the gathering at the inter-Korean border that the leaflet drops by South Korean organizations was increasing.

Seoul - South Korea's central bank on Monday announced its largest-ever rate cut, sinking its key rate by 0.75 percentage points to 4.25 per cent, as it seeks to stave off more dire repercussions from the global financial crisis.

The Bank of Korea said "a large cut in the base rate is called for in order to guard securely against the possibility of a sharp contraction of real economic activity against the backdrop of the large swings of the exchange rate and stock prices and the partial seizing-up of the credit markets."

Seoul - Shares on the Seoul stock exchange bucked slides on other Asian markets Monday, edging up after a larger-than-expected interest-rate cut by South Korea's central bank.

The local currency, however, continued to fall against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi index rose 7.7 points, or 0.8 per cent, to close at 946.45 while the main index of the technology-heavy Kosdaq market declined 18.5 points to 261.19.

Seoul - Hanwha Group was chosen by South Korea's state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) as the preferred bidder for a controlling stake in Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, the KDB announced on Friday.

"Hanwha was found to best fit our criteria of selection, including bid price, management ability and fund-raising plan," Chung In-Sung, deputy governor of the KDB, said at a press conference.

Hanwha, a conglomerate with roots in explosive maker Hanwha Corp, won out rival bidder Hyundai Heavy in the bid for a 50.5 per cent stake of the world's third-largest shipbuilder.