Tokyo - Japan, China and South Korea agreed at the Group of 20 summit to enhance bilateral currency swap between Tokyo and Beijing to help Seoul stay afloat in the global financial crisis, Japanese media said Saturday.

A joint statement said the three nations agreed to "explore an increase in the size of bilateral currency swap arrangements" among them.

The deal was mainly aimed at helping South Korea fend off the financial crisis since the won has faced selling pressure as foreign investors withdrew capital.

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.

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

Hanoi  - Vietnamese authorities have warned South Korean firms to cease violating labour laws if they want to continue their Vietnamese operations, a senior government official said Thursday.

"Many South Korean firms have violated Vietnamese law," said Mai Duc Chinh, vice chairman of the Vietnam General Labor Federation. "They failed to set up payroll and salary scale structures for their Vietnamese staff, and the salaries were not commensurate with the work."

London, Nov 12 : North Korea has said that it will shut all land borders with South Korea from the beginning of December, and accused its neighbour of provocation “beyond the danger level.”

The state-run Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang released a statement in English, which said the North Korean military was taking measures to “strictly restrict and cut off all the overland passages through the Military Demarcation Line.”