MILWAUKEE, Dec.

Work on the Saemangeum Seawall--the longest man-made dyke in the world--has officially been completed, South Korean officials announced on Tuesday.

South Korean officials have announced plans to create nearly 2 million green jobs during the next five years. The office of President Lee Myung-bak announced Monday that officials are aiming to make South Korea one of the top seven nations for green growth by 2020, the Yonhap News Agency reported Monday. Based on our past development experience that made possible the country's intensive development, but with more details than the economic development plans of the past, the five-year green development plan provides concrete ways to achieve our goals, the office said in a statement. Lee said the new goals, which are expected to cost $84.5 billion during the next five years, will change life for all South Koreans. Through green growth, our way of life will change, our way of working will change ...

A South Korean parliamentary committee approved a free trade agreement with the United States, sending the deal to a plenary session for ratification. The free trade agreement, signed in June 2007, has found opposition in both countries, Yonhap news reported Wednesday. Before the vote in Seoul, opposition lawmakers held a press conference asking representatives to postpone the vote until lawmakers in Washington appeared more likely to endorse it.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak Tuesday said the country was taking unprecedentedly swift measures to dig itself out of the economic downturn.