Seoul - South Korea called Thursday on North Korea not to endanger their cross-border cooperation projects after Pyongyang announced it planned to close the inter-Korean border.

The Defence Ministry in Seoul said that the neighbours' joint economic projects, such as the industrial complex in Kaesong, North Korea, should be protected and expanded.

The ministry said such projects have benefits for both sides. It urged the North to resume the dialogue, which includes military contacts, that it has been suspended with the South.

Seoul - Shares nosedived Thursday on t

Seoul - North Korea threatened Wednesday to close its borders with South Korea starting December 1, accusing Seoul of pursuing a confrontational policy against its neighbour.

North Korea would "strictly restrict and cut off all the overland passages" at the inter-Korean border, said a statement distributed by the country's official Korean Central News Agency.

Seoul  - North Korea threatened Wednesday to close its borders with South Korea starting December 1 as it accused Seoul of pursuing a confrontational policy against its neighbour.

North Korea would "strictly restrict and cut off all the overland passages" at the inter-Korean border, said a statement distributed by the country's official Korean Central News Agency.

South Korea's military was informed of the decision in a telephone message, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency said.

Seoul - South Korean President Lee Myung Bak said he has no objections to a potential meeting between US president-elect Barack Obama and North Korea leader Kim Jong Il.

He said in an interview with the Chosun Ilbo newspaper that appeared Tuesday that he would expect any such meeting would help to abolish North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.

Seoul - Shares finished almost 4 per cent higher Friday on the Seoul stock exchange as South Korea's central bank cut interest rates. The local currency edged up against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi index rose 42.27 points, or 3.9 per cent, to close at 1,134.49.

Advancing issues outnumbered losers 685 to 171.

The main index of the technology-heavy Kosdaq market surged 13.58 points to 325.54.

Earlier in the day, the Bank of Korea lowered the key interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 4.0 per cent in a bid to calm markets and boost the economy.