The world's top auto company, Toyota is in touch with South Korean company POSCO to get steel for its operations. Toyota Motor Corp. is suffering losses due to low sales and has been employing various cost cutting methods to mitigate the impact of global slowdown. Entire automobile sector is facing the heat of global slowdown with significant decline in sales.

POSCO is the fourth largest supplier of steel in the world. It is already supplying steel to leading Japanese auto giants. The spokesperson of POSCO, Ko Min-jin said, "We are in talks with Toyota on a similar deal."

Seoul  - South Korean President Lee Myung Bak and Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso Monday vowed to increase their efforts to stop North Korea's nuclear weapons programme, in close cooperation with the administration of incoming US president Barack Obama.

The two leaders, who met for a bilateral summit in the South Korean capital Seoul, also pledged to work together to overcome the effects of the global recession on Asian exports.

Lee told journalists that he hoped close bilateral cooperation as well as working with the international community would be a major contribution to the recovery of the global economy.

Seoul  - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso arrived in the South Korean capital of Seoul on Sunday, for a series of talks aimed at tightening economic cooperation between the two East Asian countries and bridging old wartime emnities.

The two leaders are due to meet on Monday and are expected to discuss, amongst other subjects, North Korea's atomic weapons programme, and the global economic crisis.

At an official reception dinner for Aso, South Korean President Lee Myung Bak said that it was important for the two countries to work closely together to survive the current "unprecedented" economic situation.

London, Jan 9 : Japanese government is under attack for its apparent attempts to rewrite its wartime past in the new school textbooks.

The government had decided two years ago to delete or rewrite references to 1945 Battle of Okinawa in the history books, where the military apparently forced the civilians into mass suicides faced with defeat.

According to new reports, education officials have agreed to restore the passages in new books, but it will not contain the word "forced" in the context of the Imperial Army''s role in the suicides.

Tokyo - Toyota Motor Corporation has decided to promote Vice President Akio Toyoda to become company president in June, Japanese media reports said Friday.

Japan's leading automaker hopes to pull the business out of its slump by appointing the first founding family member in 14 years to head the company, Jiji Press quoted sources as saying.

Tokyo  - Stocks ended lower Friday in Tokyo as anxiety over the economy returned ahead of US job data.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 39.62 points, or 0.45 per cent, to close at 8,836.8.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues was also down 5.87 points, or 0.68 per cent, to 855.02.

On the currency markets at midday (0300 GMT), the dollar traded at 91.20-25 yen, down from Thursday's 5 pm quote of 91.76-77 yen.