Topic: South Korea

Asian shares fell to their lowest levels of the year on Friday as early bargain hunting gave way to worries about Europe's raging debt crisis and weak global growth.

The framework for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between South Korea and China may be ready in two years, said the South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, adding that there was little opposition to the trade pact.

British insurer Aviva is putting its South Korean and Sri Lankan businesses on the auction block, sources with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday, as part of a wider retreat from sub-scale Asian markets in a deal that could fetch around $150 million.

Asian shares eased on Thursday as markets were vulnerable to faltering factory orders in China and lack of concrete measures shown by European leaders to tackle the risk of Greece leaving the currency bloc.

Asian shares retreated on Wednesday as hopes for fresh measures to tackle euro zone debt faded and caution set in ahead of a meeting of European leaders, with renewed fears Greece would leave the euro bloc dampening appetite for riskier assets.

North Korea vowed on Tuesday to bolster its nuclear deterrent in response to diplomatic pressure from Washington over a recent failed rocket launch. 

Greece should not be lulled into believing an exit from the euro would lead to the sort of short shock and sharp rebound that Argentina and Asian nations experienced when they devalued their currencies more than a decade ago.

Asian markets kept gains on Tuesday after reclaiming some ground to move off lows for the year the day before, as hopes grew that Europe would embark on fresh action to address its debt crisis while promoting growth.

South Korea’s President Lee Myung-bak says Greece needs to accept the terms of a $130 billion international bailout agreed in March and there will be no disbursement of money from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), unless the country does so.

The chief executives of Apple and Samsung Electronics are used to running the show at their global tech empires, but they will be in for a different experience when they arrive at a San Francisco federal courthouse on Monday.

Asian markets recovered some ground on Monday after last week's heavy losses, but investors remained wary about the euro zone despite world leaders calling for Greece to stay in the monetary union and for Europe to balance austerity with growth.

Samsung Electronics has received some 9 million pre-orders for its third-generation Galaxy S smartphone from more than 100 global carriers, the Korea Economic Daily reported on Friday.

Asian shares ended lower on Friday as concerns about the global economic outlook grew due to an escalating banking crisis in Spain and political uncertainty in Greece that has fueled concerns of a euro zone break-up. 

Asian shares recovered some ground on Thursday from the previous day's sell-off, but investors found little reason to chase risk amid deepening turmoil in Greece and fears of contagion to other stressed euro zone economies.

China has been quietly and gently pressuring North Korea to scrap plans for a third nuclear test, said two sources with knowledge of closed-door discussions between the countries, but there is no indication how the North will react.