India and South Korea today agreed to develop a framework for civil nuclear cooperation and decided to step up two-way trade to achieve the target of $ 30 billion by 2014.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said on Friday the world must take a strong stand against North Korea's nuclear ambitions, despite recent conciliatory gestures from Pyongyang.

South Korea's president renewed his offer of aid on Saturday for impoverished North Korea if it abandons its nuclear weapons on the 64th anniversary of the divided peninsula's liberation from Japanese colonial rule.

South Korea's president urged North Korea on Sunday to stop stoking tension, saying engagement with the international community will serve the reclusive communist nation's interests better than missiles and nuclear weapons.

South Korea and Iraq agreed on Tuesday to a $3.55 billion oil-for-development deal during a visit by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, the presidential office in Seoul said.