SOUTH KOREA

South Korea said the satellite it attempted to put into orbit yesterday in its first space rocket launch is assumed to have burned up in the atmosphere after falling back to earth.

South Korea launched its first space rocket on Tuesday but failed to put a scientific satellite into its planned orbit in a setback for the country's nascent space program.

North Korea has invited the U.S. envoy overseeing ties with the prickly state to visit for nuclear talks next month, South Korean media said on Tuesday, reaching out to Washington as the United States pushes sanctions against Pyongyang.

A U.S. official charged with enforcing U.N. sanctions on North Korea sought South Korea's continued support during talks on Monday even as Pyongyang makes conciliatory moves after months of military grandstanding.

The funeral on Sunday of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, whose efforts to reconcile the divided peninsula won him the Nobel Peace Prize, was marked by the rival Koreas' first top level talks in nearly two years.

Thanks to the relative growth of China's economy, the country's dominant search-engine company Baidu hasn't been hurting in terms of revenue and profits the last few quarters. But that doesn't mean everything has been going smoothly for Baidu, the WSJ says. The company, which has 62 percent of China's search market as of Q2, came under fire for not clearly identifying ads from search results. It also drew criticism on Chinese TV for running ads by unlicensed physicians.

South Korea, one of the world's fastest growing polluters, said on Wednesday it hopes to become Asia's trading hub for carbon emission certificates and related products under its plan for a new carbon exchange from 2011.

North Korea said on Wednesday leader Kim Jong-il had sent condolences on the death of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, the latest sign of a possible defrosting of relations between the rival Koreas.

Asian electronics makers are forecasting a turnaround in the second half of this year, citing a pick-up in global demand.

North Korea said on Wednesday leader Kim Jong-il had sent condolences on the death of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, the latest sign of a possible easing in the chill between the rival Koreas.

South Korea is counting down to its first space launch on Wednesday that will likely open the door to its nascent rocket program and rile neighbor North Korea, hit by U.N. sanctions after its own rocket launch in April.

Former President Kim Dae-jung, a giant in South Korea's shift to democracy who won the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to forge a reconciliation with the prickly communist North, died on Tuesday at the age of 85.

South Korean Yang Yong-eun became Asia's first male major winner after overhauling Tiger Woods in stunning fashion to clinch the U.S. PGA Championship by three shots on Sunday.

North Korea said on Monday it would reopen its border with the South, ending a self-imposed 9-month blockade on a vital source of cash for its leaders as their ravaged economy is squeezed by tightening U.N. sanctions.

With two rivals set to merge, pressure is mounting on Japan's Asahi Breweries to be more aggressive on acquisitions and map out a clear growth path as its home market shrinks.

Oil prices fell below $67 a barrel on Monday, extending the previous session's 4.3 percent decline, as poor U.S. economic data clouded the outlook for a quick global recovery and prompted further profit taking.

South Korea's president on Saturday called on North Korea to reach a deal to cut conventional arms amassed on their heavily fortified border and renewed a pledge to provide aid if the impoverished North ends its atomic ambitions.

U.S. monetary authorities did not intervene in foreign exchange markets in the second quarter as an improving global economic outlook pressured the U.S. dollar, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said on Thursday.

North Korea released a South Korean employee detained for more than four months after Hyundai Chief Hyun Jung-eun's four-day mission to the communist country.

Buyout funds including Permira and KKR have been told to submit their first bids by September 1 for Citigroup Inc's Bellsystem24, a leading Japanese telemarketer, in what might be the largest private equity deal in Japan this year, sources familiar with the process said on Wednesday.

Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc, the world's largest credit card networks, are counting on foreign markets for the growth that recession-bound U.S. consumers have been unable to provide.