South Korea reported on Saturday that North Korea fired seven ballistic missiles off its eastern coast. The launches are a violation of U.N. resolutions and come on Fourth of July in the United States, perhaps serving as a message.

Ex South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun has died in an apparent suicide. Mr. Roh fell to his death Saturday from a mountain cliff. The former president was facing an intense corruption investigation.

South Korea says North Korea must immediately withdraw an implicit threat it made this week to civilian airliners. Major airlines have adjusted their routes. South Korean Unification Ministry Spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun said Friday, North Korea must immediately move to ease worries it has caused about regional air travel.

U.S. President George Bush has arrived in Seoul, South Korea on the first leg of an Asian trip that will also take him to Thailand, and China - for the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics.

South Korean officials have issued their first formal response to recent moves by North Korea, labeling some of the North's recent statements "inappropriate." The exchange comes as high-level American and South Korean envoys warn time is running out in diplomacy to end North Korea's nuclear weapons programs.

New South Korean President Lee Myung-bak got straight to diplomacy on his first afternoon in office. As VOA Seoul Correspondent Kurt Achin reports, he promised the visiting U.S. Secretary of State he would improve on the outgoing administration's ties with the United States.

New South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office Monday with a promise to boost prosperity not only in his own country but in communist North Korea as well provided the communist state abandons its nuclear weapons.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak met Chinese President Hu Jintao's special envoy Tang Jiaxuan in Seoul Monday to discuss relations between China and South Korea and major international issues of common concern.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice leaves Washington Saturday on a mission to South Korea, China and Japan expected to be dominated by the issue of North Korea's nuclear program. Rice Friday ruled out a stop in North Korea. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

Hana Financial Group, one of the largest financial firms in South Korea, intends to buy Merrill Lynch shares worth $50 million.

Iraq has halted crude oil exports to South Korea, in protest of an exploration deal between Korean firms and the Kurdish regional government.

The owners of a Hong Kong-registered oil tanker involved in South Korea's worst oil spill say the South Korean decision to indict the ship's officers for the incident is unjust. The owners say the crew should in fact be commended. Claudia Blume reports from Hong Kong.