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."

Seoul - Shares fell 2.1 per cent

Seoul - Five people were found dead

Seoul - EU and South Korean negotiators began two days of talks Monday to tackle issues that are holding up a free trade agreement, including industrial tariffs and trade barriers in the automotive industry.

"We are close to a gate that leads to a new era," South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong Hoon, who is leading the talks along with EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton, was quoted as saying by the South Korean news agency Yonhap ahead of the meetings in Seoul.