Seoul  - Prosecutors on Thursday asked that former Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun Hee be sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of tax evasion and breach of trust.

Lee, 66, who was once the most powerful tycoon in South Korea, should also be made to pay a fine of 350 billion won (nearly 350 million dollars), prosecutors told the Seoul Central District Court, which was expected to deliver its verdict in the next several weeks.

The investigation into Lee and Samsung began after a former lawyer for the company accused Samsung of establishing slush funds from which to bribe public officials, but investigators were unable to prove those accusations in their three-month inquiry.

Seoul - Six months after receiving a pardon, the former head of South Korea's failed conglomerate Daewoo, Kim Woo Choong, appeared before court again Wednesday to face fresh charges.

Seoul - South Korea and the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have agreed to reach a free trade agreement (FTA) by the end of next year, officials said Wednesday.

Seoul - The six-nations taking part in discussions to end North Korea's nuclear programme will meet later this week after a nine-month break, said a South Korean official Tuesday.

Seoul - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, on the second day of a visit to his Sou

Seoul  - Rising oil prices have led South Korea to revise downwards its growth predictions for 2008, the Finance Ministry in Seoul said Wednesday.