Seoul - North Korea is poised to develop a light-weight nuclear warhead for its missiles, South Korean's military chief told parliament, media in Seoul reported Wednesday.

General Kim Tae Young, chairman of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff told a parliamentary committee that it was, however, not clear whether the communist state actually possesses warheads or is only at the beginning of developing them, the national Yonhap news agency said.

North Korea is believed to have produced about 40 kilograms of plutonium, enough to make six or seven nuclear bombs. But again it is not certain if Pyongyang has already used its plutonium stockpile to produce nuclear weapons, Kim was quoted as saying.

Seoul  - North Korea fired two short range missiles into the Yellow Sea as part of routine military training, South Korean media reported Wednesday.

North Korea on Tuesday fired two Styx missiles into the international sea from North Korean waters off the west coast, a government official told KBS radio station.

"It seems that the missiles were fired as part of their routine drill," a defence source told Yonhap news agency. "North Korea declared a no-sail order in the (Yellow Sea) before the missile launch."

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  - North Korea's Kim Jong II appeared in public for the first time since mi

Seoul - Chief US negotiator Christopher Hill Friday ended last-ditch talks with North Korea to save an imperiled nuclear disarmament deal and returned to South Korea, officials in Seoul said.

Hill had travelled to Pyongyang on Wednesday to persuade North Korea to abide by a nuclear disarmament deal threatened by failure as North Korea announced it is planning to restart its plutonium reprocessing activities.

An official in the Foreign Ministry in Seoul said Hill would now first brief his South Korean counterpart Kim Sook about the outcome of his negotiations.

Seoul - Chief US negotiator Christopher Hill Friday ended last-ditch talks with North Korea to save an imperiled nuclear disarmament deal and returned to South Korea, officials in Seoul said.

Hill had travelled to Pyongyang on Wednesday to persuade North Korea to abide by a nuclear disarmament deal threatened by failure as North Korea announced it is planning to restart its plutonium reprocessing activities.

An official in the Foreign Ministry in Seoul said Hill would now first brief his South Korean counterpart Kim Sook about the outcome of his negotiations.