Seoul - Shares were up slightly Tuesday on the Seoul stock exchange after recent losses, on hopes that exporting companies could benefit from the steep decline of the local currency, as the won continued its freefall against the dollar, closing at its lowest level in more than six years.

The benchmark Kospi index rose 7.35 points, or 0.5 per cent, to close at 1,366.10. Advancing issues outpaced decliners 526 to 281.

The main index of the technology-heavy Kosdaq market slipped 4.44 points to 401.95.

Seoul  - South Korean President Lee Myung Bak proposed a three-nation financial summit this month with Japan and China to try to limit the effects of the global financial crisis, a ruling party spokesman said Monday.

Lee would like the meeting to take place at the Asia-Europe Summit, which is to be held October 24-25 in Beijing, the Grand National Party spokesman said after talks with Lee and party chairman Park Hee Tae in Seoul.

Lee said the three neighbours working together could deal with the crisis because East Asia is the largest holder of currency reserves in the world.

Seoul  - Shares nosedived Monday on the Seoul stock exchange, sending the benchmark Kospi Index down more than 4 per cent, as worries over the global financial crisis persist despite a US bailout plan.

The Kospi plunged 60.90 points, or 4.3 per cent, to close at 1,358.75.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers 775 to 79.

The main index of the technology-heavy Kosdaq market declined 25.71 points to 406.39.

Seoul - Two women were found dead Friday in South Korea in circumstances similar to the apparent suicide of a top South Korean television and film actress, raising fears of copycat acts, news reports said.

Choi Jin Sil, 39, an icon of South Korean prime-time television dramas, was found hanging Thursday from the shower stall in a bathroom at her Seoul home with an elastic band tied around her neck.

Depression, malicious rumors and fallout from an ugly divorce in 2004 have been cited as factors that drove the mother of two to her death.

Seoul - US envoy Christopher Hill has extended his stay in North Korea for at least a day, leading to speculation Thursday that there may be progress in his efforts to save a disarmament deal.

South Korea was informed by the US that Hill, who traveled overland Wednesday to Pyongyang, would not return to Seoul on Thursday and had extended his stay until at least Friday, according to a Foreign Ministry official cited by Yonhap News Agency.

Seoul - The first military talks between North and South Korea in eight months ended shortly after they began Thursday with no concrete progress and North Korea accusing the South of spreading propoganda in its territory.

Pak Rim Su, the leader of the North's delegation, accused the South Korean side of not being prepared to solve problems at the talks in Panmunjom, a village inside the demilitarized zone dividing the two Koreas, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported.