Seoul  - South Korea staged a last-minute entry into the competition for hosting football's World Cup in 2018 or 2022, officials said Tuesday.

The world football association FIFA had been informed before the deadline for host applications expired Monday, South Korea's national football association said.

South Korea hosted the 2002 World Cup finals with Japan, the first time the even was held in Asia.

Japan is also among the dozen candidates bidding to host the tournaments in nine and 13 years.

Seoul  - South Korea's exports took a record dive of 32.8 per cent in January as the global economic downturn saw demand in China, Europe, the United States and Japan plunge, the government said Monday.

The export-driven economy recorded the year-on-year fall in its goods sold abroad to 21.7 billion dollars, their third-straight month of decline, the Knowledge Economy Ministry reported.

Seoul  - Industrial production in South Korea fell in December to its lowest level since the government started collecting such data in 1970 as the country's economy headed further toward recession, the National Statistical Office said Friday.

Owing to shrinking demand at home and abroad, production in the mining and manufacturing sectors fell 18.8 per cent in December after a 14-per-cent drop in November as a number of Korean companies have cut production in the wake of the global economic downturn.

Seoul- Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd, the world's largest shipbuilder, on Thursday reported a two-thirds rise in its fourth-quarter earnings but predicted a 23-per-cent drop in orders for this year.

It saw better-than-expected net profit of 854 billion won (621 million dollars) for the quarter as sales rose 42 per cent over the final quarter of 2007 to 6.05 trillion won.

Seoul - Shares rallied Wednesday on the Seoul stock exchange on the first trading day

Seoul - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il attended a lunar New Year's concert in the capital Pyongyang, state-controlled media reported Tuesday as speculations persist about his health.

Kim was accompanied by senior officials of the ruling Workers Party and top military officials, the KCNA news agency said.

The report didn't specify when and where the performance took place. The lunar New Year fell on Monday.

The audience cheered when Kim appeared in the auditorium and the leader expressed satisfaction over the performance given by the state merited chorus, KCNA said.