Wellington  - New Zealand's and South Korea's foreign ministers are to discuss a timetable for launching formal negotiations on a free trade pact during weekend talks, the New Zealand government announced Friday.

New Zealand's Murray McCully said he would host his South Korean counterpart, Yu Myung Hwan, in talks that offered an important opportunity to further cement the countries' relationship.

Seoul - The K

Seoul  - Hyundai Motor Co's profits for the fourth quarter of 2008 dropped 28 per cent year-on-year as the South Korean automaker struggled with rising warranty and marketing costs.

Net income for the months from October to December dropped to 243.6 billion won (176.8 million dollars), the company said Thursday.

Sales of South Korea's leading carmaker rose by 1.1 per cent to 8.8 trillion won while operating profit was down 8.9 per cent to 581 billion won, compared with 637.8 billion won in the same quarter last year.

Seoul  - South Korea's economy contracted a more-than-expected 5.6 per cent in the final quarter of 2008 - its biggest drop since the Asian financial crisis a decade ago - as exports shrank, domestic consumption waned and business investment declined, the central bank said Thursday.

The fall in the country's gross domestic product (GDP) from the quarter before contrasted with a 0.5-per-cent rise in the third quarter. On a year-on-year basis, the fourth-quarter fall was 3.4 per cent as the global economic crisis gripped South Korea, the Bank of Korea said.

Seoul - Shares continued to fall Wednesday on t

Seoul - South Korea and the European Union on Tuesday reported progress in the latest round of talks on a free trade agreement, but problems remained.

The outstanding issues were "inevitably complex and complicated," EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Asthon said in Seoul.

"I hope my presence here demonstrates the priority that we place upon this free trade agreement, and certainly I'm putting a lot of effort into resolving the outstanding issues."