SEOUL, May 20 (Yonhap) -- The government said Monday it is checking each of the 123 South Korean companies for damage assessment of their withdrawal from an inter-Korean joint industrial complex in North Korea in April. The Unification Ministry, which handles cross-border affairs with North Korea, said four teams, made up of officials from various government agencies, are visiting those affected companies to keep them informed of the latest developments and assess their damages.

SEOUL, May 19 (Yonhap) -- The country's largest law firm is preparing to draft legislation aimed at compensating companies that have taken a hit from the suspension of an inter-Korean industrial complex in North Korea, a law firm official said Sunday. The factory complex in the North's border city of Kaesong has remained idle since early April as Pyongyang pulled all its workers from 123 South Korean companies there, citing South Korea's provocations.

By Kim Eun-jung LIMA, Peru, May 19 (Yonhap) - South Korea should step up military and industrial cooperation with emerging nations in Latin America as they are making security modernization efforts parallel to their rapid economic growth, Seoul's arms procurement chief said Sunday. To that end, Lee Yong-geol, the head of the state-run Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), pledged to expand support for Korean defense firms eyeing expansion of business and trade opportunities in the South and Central American region.

SEOUL, May 20 (Yonhap) -- The security situation on the Korean Peninsula remains "grave" following North Korea's recent launching of short-range projectiles and its defiant pursuit of nuclear weapons, South Korea's top diplomat said Monday. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se made the remarks at an annual conference of heads of overseas diplomatic missions in Seoul, after the North test-fired four short-range projectiles into the East Sea over the weekend.