North Korea's trade with China has nearly tripled since 2007, data published by South Korea showed Thursday, underlining the isolated state's deepening dependence on its only major ally.

The South Korean government on Thursday slashed the nation's growth outlook for 2012 and 2013, citing the eurozone debt crisis and U.S. fiscal woes that continue to dampen global demand.

South Korea's import car market is enjoying a heyday, with foreign carmakers, largely led by the popularity of German brands, continuing to post record sales in recent years.

South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering said Tuesday it had secured a 1.9-trillion-won (US$1.8 billion) order to build a fixed platform for Norway's Statoil ASA.

A South Korean watchdog said Monday it fined three mobile service providers almost US$11 million in total for trying to lure each other's subscribers with banned subsidies in the fiercely competitive market.

The foreign business community hoped for better days under a new government in South Korea, but expressed lingering doubts over the future, citing the bleak external market conditions.

As is often the case with presidential elections, it may not be party loyalists and ideologically committed voters that will have the final say this time. Instead, it is a small number of swing voters that will probably hold sway in a closely contested race on Wednesday.

South Korea's presidential election campaign has highlighted discontent with the family-controlled industrial conglomerates that dominate the country's economic life. The two main candidates promise a tougher line but neither is likely to tinker too much with a model that transformed South Korea into a global business power.

Wednesday's presidential election is likely to see the biggest-ever clash of generations as the younger and older voters are split almost evenly behind Park Geun-hye and Moon Jae-in, with 40-somethings holding the casting vote.

Crime, corruption and tax evasion have cost the developing world nearly US$6 trillion over the past decade, and illicit funds keep growing, led by China, a financial watchdog group said in a new report.