Seoul - South Korea plans an extra budget totalling 28.9 trillion won (20.3 billion dollars) to revive the country's flagging economy, officials said Tuesday.

The measures include cheap credits, infrastructure projects, job training and help for low income groups, the finance ministry said.

The government hopes the package will lead to the creation of more than 500,000 jobs and increase growth by 1.5 per cent.

Beijing - Chinese and South Korean officials met on Tuesday to discuss how to respond to North Korea's planned rocket launch next week, the Chinese government and South Korean media said.

Wi Sung Lac, South Korea's chief envoy at talks on North Korea's nuclear programme, arrived in Beijing for talks with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.

Seoul - The European Union and South Korea on Tuesday postponed concluding a Free Trade Agreement after reaching a tentative deal on almost all points, officials said.

Talks over the outstanding issues are to continue in early April on ministerial level at the sidelines of the G20 meeting in London, the chief negotiators of both sides said after the end of the formal negotiations in Seoul.

Seoul - Shares climbed 2.4 per cent

Seoul - The fate of two US journalists detained by North Korea was still unclear on Friday, a US envoy said.

"We are still trying to get a sense of exactly what the situation is and what happened," said US Ambassador Kathleen Stephens after a meeting with diplomats in Seoul.

The US government and US diplomats were trying to secure the release of the two women, "who do seem to be held in some way," Stephens said. "So we will hope for the best."

Seoul - North Korea on Friday again stopped border traffic, denying South Koreans access to the Kaesong industrial complex, sparking fears over the future of the joint project.

South Koreans were denied access even after a joint US-South Korean military exercise ended, the Defence Ministry in Seoul said. Pyongyang had originally cut border traffic during the annual military exercise which ended earlier on Friday.