Hanoi  - Vietnamese authorities have warned South Korean firms to cease violating labour laws if they want to continue their Vietnamese operations, a senior government official said Thursday.

"Many South Korean firms have violated Vietnamese law," said Mai Duc Chinh, vice chairman of the Vietnam General Labor Federation. "They failed to set up payroll and salary scale structures for their Vietnamese staff, and the salaries were not commensurate with the work."

London, Nov 12 : North Korea has said that it will shut all land borders with South Korea from the beginning of December, and accused its neighbour of provocation “beyond the danger level.”

The state-run Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang released a statement in English, which said the North Korean military was taking measures to “strictly restrict and cut off all the overland passages through the Military Demarcation Line.”

Seoul - South Korean President Lee Myung Bak said he has no objections to a potential meeting between US president-elect Barack Obama and North Korea leader Kim Jong Il.

He said in an interview with the Chosun Ilbo newspaper that appeared Tuesday that he would expect any such meeting would help to abolish North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.

Seoul  - Shares fell more than 2 p

Seoul  - Shares soared Monday on the Seoul stock exchange led

Seoul - Shares finished almost 4 per cent higher Friday on the Seoul stock exchange as South Korea's central bank cut interest rates. The local currency edged up against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi index rose 42.27 points, or 3.9 per cent, to close at 1,134.49.

Advancing issues outnumbered losers 685 to 171.

The main index of the technology-heavy Kosdaq market surged 13.58 points to 325.54.

Earlier in the day, the Bank of Korea lowered the key interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 4.0 per cent in a bid to calm markets and boost the economy.