Seoul - North Korea's communist leader Kim Jong-il has promoted his youngest son to a key post, in a possible sign of grooming him as a successor, South Korean media reports said Sunday. The secretive family dynasty has ruled the nuclear-armed north of the peninsula since 1948, with increasing speculation at the health of the 67-year old Kim Jong-il, who is believed to have suffered a stroke.

Seoul - Samsung Electronics Co Friday reported net profits of 619 billion won (458 million dollars) for the first three months of 2009, following losses of 20 billion won in the previous quarter.

Analysts had predicted net losses of 150 billion won, the Yonhap news agency said.

However, South Korea's leading electronics company's profits were down 72 per cent from 2.19 trillion won year-on-year, as demand for computer memory chips and flat-screen (liquid crystal display LCD) television sets declined.

London, Apr 24 : North Korea has become a full-fledged nuclear power with the capacity to wipe out entire cities in Japan and South Korea, a confidential report prepared by world's intelligence agencies and defence experts states.

This new reality has emerged in off-hand remarks and in single sentences buried in lengthy reports.

Seoul - South Korea's economy unexpectedly grew slightly by 0.1 per ce

Seoul - South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor Co said Thursday that its net profits declined 42.7 per cent in the first three months of 2009, owing to a global drop in demand and rising marketing costs. Net profit fell to 224.9 billion won (166.7 million dollars) from 393 billion won in the January-to-March quarter of 2008, South Korea's leading carmaker said.

Operating profits were down 71 per cent to 153.8 billion won, and sales shrunk by 26.4 per cent to 6.03 trillion won.

Seoul - Pyeongchang will join the bid race for the 2018 Winter Olympics as the South Korean town aims to come third time lucky. The South Korean Olympic Committee confirmed on Thursday that the winter sport resort some 180 kilometres north-east of the capital Seoul will make another attempt to land the Games.

Pyeongchang narrowly lost the 2010 bid against Canada's Vancouver and also missed out for 1014 when the International Olympic Committee elected the Russian Black Sea resort Sochi.