Seoul  - North Korea's state-controlled media on Sunday released photos of national leader Kim Jong Il appearing in public at a football match as speculation persists about his health.

The 66-year-old watched a match between two army teams accompanied by high-ranking officials of the ruling communist Korean Workers' Party and military representatives and congratulated the players after the game, said the Korean Central News Agency, which also published a photo of North Korea's leader.

Korean Central TV aired 14 photographs of Kim at the game, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

The date and location of the match was not released.

Seoul - Shares continued their rebound Friday on the Seoul stock exchange, tracking overnight gains in the US market, after suffering heavy losses earlier this week.

However, South Korea's currency, the won, fell again, after it posted its largest gain versus the dollar in a decade Thursday on a currency swap deal between the country's central bank and the US Federal Reserve.

The benchmark Kospi index soared 28.34 points, or 2.6 per cent, to close at 1,113.06.

Advancing issues outpaced decliners 643 to 218.

Seoul - Shares surged by a record 12 per cent Thursday on the Seoul stock exchange as a currency swap with the US worth 30 billion dollars and a decreased currency account deficit in South Korea in September boosted investor sentiment.

The local currency spiked 16.5 per cent against the greenback, buoyed by the swap deal and the bullish stock market.

The benchmark Kospi index jumped 115.75 points, or 12 per cent, to close at 1,084.72, its largest ever one-day gain. The index fell more than 20 per cent last week, the biggest loss in two decades.

Advancing issues outpaced decliners 841 to 53.

Seoul - South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor Inc, the world's second largest maker of computer chips, Thursday posted net losses of 1.67 trillion won (1.3 billion dollars) for the third quarter owing to price slumps and write-offs.

After profits of 168 billion won in the third quarter of 2007, the company reported losses for the fourth consecutive quarter, more than doubling the losses posted for the previous quarter of 711 billion won.

Seoul - Creditors of ailing Daewoo Electronics have chosen US equity firm Ripplewood Holdings as their preferred bidder after two failed attempts to sell South Korea's third-largest appliance and television maker, a South Korean bank said Wednesday.

Leading creditor Woori Bank said in Seoul that the takeover of Daewoo Electronics should be formalized by the end of this year.

New York-based Ripplewood will be granted access to Daewoo's books before the deal was signed, Woori Bank said, but declined to give details regarding the US company's offer.

Ripplewood was entering negotations with an offer of about 400 billon won, the national Yonhap news agency said, quoting industry sources.

Seoul - Shares closed more than 3 per cent lower Wednesday on the Seoul stock exchange on rumors that South Korea may apply for bail-out funds by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The South Korean authorities denied the market rumors.

The benchmark Kospi index plunged 30.19 points, or 3.02 per cent, to close at 968.97, giving up earlier gains.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers 526 to 320.

The main index of the technology-heavy Kosdaq market declined 6.84 points to 265.59.