Seoul - Private groups in South Korea on Thursday sent balloons carrying tens of thousands of anti-North Korean leaflets over the border with their communist neighbour, flouting the wishes of the South Korean government.

About 100,000 flyers were dispatched Thursday from a mountain near Seoul, the organizers said. Among the messages on the leaflets was a call for North Koreans to overthrow their Stalinist regime.

Similar flyers have sparked tensions this fall in inter-Korean relations as Pyongyang has accused the government in Seoul of being responsible for the leaflets and warned it repeatedly of serious consequences.

Seoul - Shares crashed Thursday on the Seoul sto

Seoul - The South Korean government on Wednesday called on private groups to stop distributing anti-North Korean pamphlets over the border amid increased tension between the two Koreas.

According to a statement from South Korea's Unification Ministry, the government in Seoul will take measures to stop the organizations behind the pamphlet distribution.

Seoul - A restructuring of South Korea's shipbuilding industry, which has been hit by a downturn in orders, is being considered by the country's government and banks, according to media reports.

Proposals are being considered that would offer troubled shipbuilders conditional financial support, reported the Yonhap news agency Tuesday, citing government officials.

A group of banks is currently reviewing a restructuring program for some of the smaller of the country's 300 shipbuilders, reported The Korea Times.

Seoul, Nov. 18 : A former North Korean camp guard has revealed that mass executions, torture and sexual violence against prisoners are a regular feature in that country''s prison camps.

According to An Myong-Chul, 40, these camps are presently holding about 300,000 people, and he adds that around this time North Korea executes up to 20 inmates at each camp.

Seoul - For the first time South Korea's Supreme Court ruled Friday that Chinese nationals have the right to apply for asylum in South Korea.

South Korea's Supreme Court ruled against the Ministry of Justice appeal and ordered that asylum be granted to a three-member Chinese family who fear persecution at home, Yonhap news agency reported Friday.

Yuan Wenrui, 54, along with his wife and son, "belong to a category of people who 'have a well-founded fear of being persecuted' as defined by the UN refugee convention," the presiding judge said in the verdict.