(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; ADDS background, details throughout; CORRECTS initial
year proposed by US for relocation of Seoul base in para 2; TRIMS)
By Sam Kim

By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korea said on Monday it will set up a new
presidential council this week tasked solely with overcoming what the government

(ATTN: UPDATES lead, ADDS paras 2,3, 8-10 for Kim's New Year military visits first
since 1995, Seoul ministry spokesman quotes)
By Kim Hyun

SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks gained 1.8 percent late Monday
morning as foreign investors scooped up big-cap shares following a Wall Street

SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's state-owned Industrial Bank of Korea
(IBK) said Monday it has decided to raise 360 billion won (US$276.9 million) by

(ATTN: ADDS more details throughout)
SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Yonhap) -- Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., the

SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korea plans to amend its criminal laws to allow
authorities to confiscate funds and assets related to terrorist activities in an

SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Yonhap) -- The Korea Interbank Offered Rates (KORIBOR) as posted
by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news and information arm of Yonhap News Agency,
at 11:00 a.m.

SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's labor productivity in the manufacturing
sector fell in the third quarter of last year amid slumping domestic demand and

By Kim Boram
SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Yonhap) -- The Constitutional Court upheld a law on Monday that
bars firefighters from joining or creating a labor union.