South Korea's foreign minister ruled out Friday additional negotiations with the United States over a free trade agreement, a day after presidents of the two countries vowed cooperation to push the stalled deal forward.

South Korea's economy is expected to grow faster next year than the previous forecast of four percent as it rebounds quickly from the global downturn, Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-Hyun said Thursday.

South Korea, which is 99 percent self-sufficient in rice, said it will set aside 150,000 metric tons of the grain as reserves for possible food shortages in Asia.

South Korea's National Pension Service, the nation's biggest investor, is looking at overseas property assets as part of its “long-term” policy to diversify away from fixed-income investments, spokesman Kim Ha Young said.

South Korean petrochemicals, battery, textile stand to lose from trade deals between Taiwan and China, likely to be signed in the coming year, traders said Monday.

South Korea's National Pension Service (NPS) will sign an 800 million pounds (US$1.33 billion) sale and leaseback deal next week for HSBC's European HQ in London, an official at the fund said on Friday.

South Korea's central bank left its key interest rate at a record low for the ninth straight month Thursday, pledging to maintain low borrowing rates to help extend a recovery in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

South Korea's October jobless rate fell to the lowest level for 11 months in another sign the economy is recovering from a sharp downturn, official figures showed Wednesday.

South Korea's economy is recovering faster than many other major countries, as improving exports, consumption and corporate investment ease jitters over a global recession, data showed Monday.

South Korea's foreign-exchange reserves rose in October to the highest level in 19 months, boosted by investment and a weaker U.S. dollar that increased the value of holdings in euros and pounds.