Manila - Ten South Korean nationals were killed when their van crashed into a concrete wall while on their way to a vacation in the northern Philippines, police said Thursday.

The South Koreans were on their way to a resort in Bolinao town in Pangasinan province, 225 kilometres north of Manila, when the accident occurred Wednesday.

Senior Inspector Rizaldy Dalope, town police chief, said the van smashed into a concrete wall in the village of Sampaloc.

Two of the victims were students in the northern mountain city of Baguio, while the rest were tourists. At least one was a child.

Seoul - Tens of thousands of South Korean Buddhists protested Wednesday against what they said was discrimination from the government of conservative Christian President Lee Myung Bak.

About 60,000 people, including thousands of monks, took part in the rally and march through central Seoul, television reports said.

"This gathering is not to declare a state of confrontation but to end social conflict and division," said monk Wonhak from the Jogye Order, the country's largest Buddhist sect, which organized the demonstration.

He also called for more tolerance.

Seoul - Hyundai Heavy Industries Co, steelmaker POSCO and two other Korean companies officially expressed interest Wednesday in acquiring a majority stake in Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co, state banking officials said.

The state-run Korea Development Bank is arranging the sale of a 50.4-per-cent stake in the world's third-largest shipbuilder at an estimated cost of 7 trillion won (6.45 billion dollars).

Energy- and construction-focused GS Group and Hanwha Group, led by chemicals maker Hanwha Corp, have also submitted letters of intent for the acquisition.

Seoul - China and South Korea agreed Monday to begin a high-level strategic dialogue aimed at strengthening political and economic cooperation between the two countries.

South Korean President Lee Myung Bak and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, who is on a two-day visit to South Korea, also announced plans to for an exchange programme for military officers.

In a joint statement, both presidents stressed their commitment to full implementation of the international agreements to end North Korea's nuclear weapons' programme.

Seoul  - An acute food shortage in North Korea has led the World Food Programme to appeal to Seoul to send food aid to the impoverished communist country, officials said Thursday.

The UN agency asked South Korea for a 60-million-dollar donation to its new emergency relief programme to provide sustenance for 6.2 million hungry children, women and elderly in North Korea, a South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman said.

"The government will decide whether to accept the appeal or not based on public opinion," the spokesman said.

"We don't link humanitarian aid to political issues, such as the nuclear issue," he said in reference to North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.

Seoul - South Korea's STX Group said on Monday it was more than doubling its stake in Europe's largest ship maker Aker Yards to 88.4 per cent, gaining full management control of the Norwegian firm