South Korea's defence minister, Lee Sang-hee, said North Korea's navy threatened its maritime supply lines.
It is Korea's fifth-largest by assets, according to end-December data from Korea's Financial Supervisory Service.
South Korea's military has reported missile movements on North Korea's east coast, but nothing pointed toward South Korea.
China and Russia, North Korea's closest allies, called for a resumption of the stalled multi-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programme.
We'll be welcoming Korea's -- South Korea's increasing global role.
Although South Korea's Kospi Composite briefly managed to move into positive territory just before Bank of Korea's policy announcement, the index quickly slipped back, ending 0.8% lower at 1933.09.
Hill told CNN it is still important to resolve North Korea's uranium and proliferation activities, but North Korea's plutonium is the more immediate threat because it can be used to make nuclear weapons.
Clinton's 20 hours in Pyongyang could pave the way for renewed diplomatic efforts, including direct dialogue between the United States and North Korea, the re-freezing of North Korea's nuclear program and even North Korea's return to the six-party talks.
Meanwhile, the implementation of a 1994 agreement that ended North Korea's plutonium production in return for two new western-designed nuclear reactors and interim supplies of heavy fuel oil is badly behind schedule, largely as a result of North Korea's obstructive behaviour: the two new reactors were meant to start producing electricity by 2003, but the first concrete will not be poured before the end of next year.
He didn't suggest that Thailand might rebound toward the end of 1997, like Templeton International's Mark Mobius, or that Korea's economy had bottomed out in February, like the Korea Asia Fund's Park Jae Man, or that Jakarta stocks in May represented one of the better growth opportunities in Asia, like Stuart Winchester of Dresdner RCM Global Investors.
In comments that will be welcomed by Washington, Abe held out an olive branch to South Korea, a key U.S. ally that shares Japan's concern over North Korea's provocations.
Diplomats say the U.S. and North Korea's neighbors are pushing for North Korea to shut down its main nuclear reactor at Yongbyon and submit to international inspections.
So while Kerry told journalists on his trip that the U.S. was prepared to reach out, and even under the right circumstances make a grand overture to North Korea's leader, he stuck firm to the condition that North Korea must first show it's committed to denuclearization.
The sudden collapse of the conglomerate, which provides 80, 000 jobs in Korea and accounted for some 13% of the country's exports, could have derailed Korea's budding economic recovery.
It has said that North Korea's nuclear programme will be a main priority in Japan's efforts to normalise relations with North Korea following an historic visit in September to the country's capital, Pyongyang, by Junichiro Koizumi, the Japanese prime minister.
And to cap it off, LG's OLED received Korea's Good Design President Award in October.
ENGADGET: LG 55-inch OLED TV available for pre-order in Korea this week, ready to ship next month
While their economies are more complementary with Japan's than is Korea's, they are prone to asset bubbles.
The latest deal comes at a time when the United States needs China in negotiations over Iran's and North Korea's nuclear programs.
Despite recent improvements, education and infrastructure still lag behind China's or South Korea's (as a big power cut this week reminded Brazilians).
LG's OLED received Korea's Good Design President Award in October.
ENGADGET: LG's 55-inch OLED television starting at $12K, shipping in March
When the crisis broke out in Thailand two years ago, the Philippine banks were well capitalized, corporate debt levels were low by Asian standards and, unlike Thailand's or South Korea's, little of the country's foreign debt was of short-term maturity.
Americans Paula Creamer and Christina Kim, Japan's Ai Miyazato and Korea's Hee-Won Han finished joint third.
Thailand's Chawalit Plaphol, Korea's Kang Wook-soon and Thomas Bjorn of Denmark shared third place on 21-under-par.
Mr Obuchi will also emphasise Japan's anxiety about North Korea's missile testing.
Germany's Siemens, Sweden's Ericsson and South Korea's Samsung trailed behind.
The United States also wants the deal to address Japan's questions about North Korea's alleged abductions of more than a dozen Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s, officials said.
The talks with Japan ended abruptly on their second day, after a North Korean walkout, apparently in anger at Japan's stance on North Korea's abduction of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s.
By this measure, it is bigger than Singapore's DBS Group and Korea's Kookmin Bank, and has attracted big stakeholders such as the Temasek fund of Singapore (it has 7.6%) and CLSA and Merrill Lynch funds.
That might be about to change, though, as South Korea's state-owned Korea Electronics Technology Institute has announced a new image sensor chip that promises to take "vibrant photos" in extreme low-light conditions -- all the way down to 1 lux, which is the equivalent light output of a candle shining one meter away.
ENGADGET: South Korean image-sensing chip enables 1-lux photography
By this measure, it is bigger than Singapore's DBS Group and Korea's Kookmin Bank (nyse: KB - news - people ), and has attracted big stakeholders such as the Temasek fund of Singapore (it has 7.6%) and CLSA and Merrill Lynch (nyse: MER - news - people ) funds.
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