South Korea pressed North Korea on Friday to discuss its nuclear weapons programme, a day after the two nations agreed to hold high-level military dialogue to ease months of tensions.

South Korea's Supreme Court on Thursday acquitted a left-leaning party leader of subversion and espionage — 51 years after he was executed by dictator Syngman Rhee.

North Korea on Thursday proposed high-level military talks with South Korea to discuss "pending issues" following months of high tension, Seoul's defence ministry said.

South Korea has been negotiating with Russia to receive advanced defence technology as part of debt repayments, officials said Tuesday.

A South Korean cargo ship with 21 crew on board was hijacked by Somali pirates on Saturday, Seoul's Yonhap news agency said, quoting a diplomatic source.

For the second straight year China has emerged as the world's leading shipbuilding nation and is way ahead of S. Korea which has come a distant second, data showed.

North Korea on Saturday took further steps to mend ties with the South, suggesting talks within weeks and reopening an office to encourage cooperation on the fractured peninsula.

Four Chinese sailors died Friday after a fire gutted a Cambodia-flagged cargo ship off South Korea's southern port of Busan, coast guard officials said.

South Korean marines and naval forces will hold joint war games this week to simulate an infiltration by North Korean troops across the tense Yellow Sea border, military officials said Tuesday.

South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak on Monday reached out to North Korea, saying Seoul was open to talks and offering closer economic ties despite high tensions on the peninsula.