Seoul - South Korean cloning researcher Hwang Woo Sook was barred Friday from returning to human stem-cell research, two years after a scandal over manipulated data in studies in which Hwang had claimed to be the first to clone human stem cells.

The Health, Welfare and Family Affairs Ministry in Seoul said it rejected the application of Hwang's research lab to begin such research.

"The decision was made as Hwang still stands on trial on charges that he violated the nation's bioethical laws and was fired from his school for paper fabrication and other unethical problems in obtaining eggs in relation to his research on stem cells in 2006," the ministry said.

New Delhi, July 31 : A media official attached with the Beijing Olympic Games Organising Committee (BOGOC) has expressed his disappointment over a South Korean TV station broadcasting footage of a dress rehearsal of the Beijing Olympics opening.

“We are disappointed they did that, but the fragments cannot give the audience a full picture of the opening ceremony,” said Sun Weide, a media official with the organizing committee of the Beijing Games, Xinhua reported.

“Let’s wait for the wonderful performances when the Games open on August 8,” he said at a press conference.

Tokyo - A South Korean man cut his fingers in central Tokyo Thursday to protest against Japan's decision to claim sovereignty over the disputed Dokdo islets.

Japanese police took the man in his 50s into custody after he sliced his right ring finger and pinky to write a protest message in blood on a flag,

He was conducting a sit-in with other protesters near the prime minister's residence, according to police.

"I came here to protest against the Takeshima (Dokdo) islets issue," police quoted him as saying.

Seoul - Shares nosedived Tuesday on the Seoul stock exchange

Seoul - At least seven people have died in several days of storms and heavy rain sweeping across South Korea, with a further six people still missing, local media reports said Saturday.

The district of Bonghwa in North Kyongsang province, the hardest- hit area, saw four people killed and four missing, including a 77- year-old woman and her 54-year-old daughter crushed by a crumbling rail bridge.

Seoul - South Korea's economy grew 0.8 per cent from the first quarter to the second quarter as robust exports made up for a drop in consumer spending, the central bank said Friday.

The gross domestic product saw a 4.8-per-cent increase from 2007's second quarter, down from the 5.8-per-cent jump between 2007's and 2008's first quarters, the Bank of Korea said.

Exports of goods, which account for about 40 per cent of South Korea's GDP, rose 3.7 per cent in the second quarter from the quarter before after falling 1.3 per cent in the first quarter.