해외에서 컬렉션을 열면서 패션 한류를 주도하던 패션 브랜드 헥사 바이 구호 사업이 곧 정리될 예정이라고 삼성에버랜드 패션 사업부 관계자가 말했다. 이는 삼성의 패션 사업부가 제일모직에서 에버랜드로 2013년 12월 1일부로 이전한 지 약 삼개월만에 일어난 일이다. 헥사 바이 구호의 브랜드 정리는 곧 제일모직 시절, 삼성그룹 이건희 회장의 차녀 이서현 에버랜드 패션 부문 사장이 추구하던 글로벌 명품 브랜드 육성 사업에 막대한 차질을 예고하는 일이라는 평이다. 제일모직은 헥사 바이 구호, 데렐쿠니 그리고 준지를 해외 마켓을 타겟으로 내놓았다. 인기 디자이너 정욱준이 전개하는 준지의 사업은 계속될 예정이다. 헥사 바이 구호의 퇴장은 제일모직의 정구호 전무가 2013년 11월 돌연 회사를 떠나면서 얼핏 예견된 일이기도 하다. 호사가들은 에버랜드에 정구호 전 (前) 전무의 활약 여지가 작을 것이라 관측해왔다. 헥사 바이 구호는 정구호를 필두로 뉴욕 그리고 파리에서 캘렉션을 여는 등 전세계를

LONDON (AP) _ Manchester United and Chelsea have joined a national campaign against homophobia in football that is aiming to win the support of at least half of England's professional clubs.Eleven Premier League clubs including Arsenal and Manchester City have joined the 2014 Football vs. Homophobia program so far, pledging to speak out against homophobia and to support the campaign's activities.West Ham captain Kevin Nolan says that the month-long campaign, which is backed by Sports Minister He

(AFP) - Recently crowned Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo will miss Real Madrid's next three league games after being sent-off in his side's 1-1 draw against Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.   The score was already tied at 1-1 when Ronaldo was shown the eighth red card of his career after clashing with Athletic midfielder Ander Iturraspe 15 minutes from time.   The Spanish Football Federation handed the Portuguese the normal one game ban for a straight red card, but also added an extra two games f

Tax authorities are investigating Seoul branch of UBS over alleged tax evasion, sources said Wednesday.According to industry insiders, the Seoul Regional Tax Office has been investigating the Swiss-based financial organization since late 2013 for allegedly doctoring derivative securities transaction records and conducting illegal transfers that generated 51 billion won of unreported profits. UBS Seoul is also suspected of faking a loss through earlier settlements on derivatives with offshore com

Naver Corp., South Korea's top Internet portal operator, said Wednesday that its 2013 net profit more than tripled on increased sales from its flagship messenger service LINE and its search advertising business.Net income amounted to 1.9 trillion won (US$1.76 billion) last year, up 248 percent from the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing.Revenue rose 28.5 percent on-year to 2.31 trillion won, and operating profit inched up 0.6 percent to 524.1 billion won, it added."An increas

North Korea on Friday made an abrupt proposal for the reunions of separated families living in both Koreas, and the South Korean government immediately welcomed the proposal.The North Korean Red Cross proposed holding the reunions at the Mount Kumgang resort "at a convenient time" after the Lunar New Year holiday, Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency said, adding that the proposal was made through a telephone message sent to the president of South Korea's Red Cross.The North said in the messag

BEIJING (AP) _ China said Friday it has begun issuing warnings to foreign military planes entering its self-declared air defense zone over the East China Sea amid heightened tensions with its neighbors, especially Japan.Bitter rhetoric between the neighbors has spiked since Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a late-December visit to a war shrine in Tokyo that outraged Beijing. Abe this week compared the tense relationship to the pre-World War I rivalry between Britain and Germany. Japanese

CAIRO (AP) _ Three bombings hit high-profile areas around Cairo on Friday, including a suicide car bomber who struck the city's police headquarters, killing five people in the first major attack on the Egyptian capital as insurgents step up a campaign of violence following the ouster of the Islamist president.Nobody claimed responsibility for the attacks, but they bore the hallmarks of Islamic extremists who have increasingly targeted police and the military since the July 3 coup against Mohamme

   DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) _ A Bangladesh court on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for two owners of a garment factory and four of their employees on homicide charges for the deaths of 112 workers in a fire that engulfed the factory in 2012.   Prosecutor Anwarul Kabir Babul said that Judge Wasim Sheikh issued the arrest warrants Tuesday for the six, including owners Delwar Hossain and his wife, Mahmuda Akter.   Police said the six have fled and it is not known where they are. If they are not found

   South Korea's top diplomat plans to visit Washington in early January for talks with U.S. officials on key regional issues, including North Korea, Seoul's foreign ministry said Tuesday.   Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se is scheduled to meet with Secretary of State John Kerry and other senior U.S. officials, foreign ministry spokesperson Cho Tai-young said.   Yun and Kerry last had a face-to-face meeting in September in New York.   During the upcoming visit, Yun will discuss "such issues as bila

Unionists of the state-run railway operator KORAIL on Tuesday ended a 22-day walkout and returned to their workplaces.However, they vowed to continue their struggle against the government's approval of the establishment of a KORAIL affiliate, which will run the new bullet train route out of Suseo in southwestern Seoul from as early as 2015."All union members returned and resumed their work as of 11 a.m. We will go back to our normal duties," said Choi Eun-cheol, spokesman of the union.KORAIL chi

   Hyundai Steel Co., South Korea's No.2 steelmaker, said Tuesday it will invest 844.2 billion won (US$804.8 million) in building a new plant in the western coastal area of the country.   The plant, to produce next-generation special steel, will be completed by October 2015, the company said.   Hyundai Steel, a unit of Hyundai Motor Group, will build the new plant in Dangjin, about 123 kilometers southwest of Seoul. (Yonhap News)   

   WASHINGTON (AP) _ Secretary of State John Kerry will present Israel and the Palestinians the broad outlines of what a final Mideast peace agreement could look like when he travels to the region this week, the State Department said.   State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said Monday that Kerry will discuss with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a proposed framework to serve as a guideline for addressing all core issues in the decades-lo

아동을 학대하여 죽음에 이르게 하는 경우에 최대 무기징역을 선고하도록 하는 법안이 31일 국회를 통과하였다.   새누리당 안홍준 의원이 제기한 법안에 의하면 학대의 결과로 피해아동이 사망할 경우 가해자는 최대 무기징역까지 선고받을 수 있으며 돌이킬 수 없이 심각한 마음과 몸의 피해를 입은 경우 3년 이상의 징역형을 선고받게 된다. 상습적이라는 판결을 바는 경우 50%의 가중치를 받게 되기도 한다. 친권자가 학대의 주범일 경우 정부에서 친권을 박탈 할 수 있도록 하였다. "아동학대는 자라나는 아이들에게 돌이킬 수 없는 피해를 일으킵니다. 이 때문에 훨씬 엄격한 법을 적용시킬 필요가 있습니다," 안씨가 말했다. 현재 아동학대자는 최대 5년의 징역형을 언도받고 있다. "새로운 법으로 인해 아동들이 더 이상 외부의 학대를 받지 않고 우리 사회의 건강한 일원이 되어주었으면 합니다." 12월 31일 국회는 몇가지 법안들을 서둘러 통과시켰다.   그 중 하나는 연예

Child abusers whose assault has caused death of their victims could spend their life behind bars indefinitely in the future, as a bill obliging tougher measures against child abuse passed the National Assembly’s general session on Tuesday.According to the special bill on child protection and abuse prevention proposed by Rep. Ahn Hong-joon of the ruling Saenuri Party, those whose abuse resulted in death of the child victim will be subject to life sentence while those whose deeds inflicted “hard t

   President Park Geun-hye said Tuesday her government will continue to work harder in the new year to revitalize the economy, ensure national security and fix abnormal practices deeply rooted in society.   "We will focus our national capabilities on keeping the hard-won embers of economic recovery alive so as to revitalize the economy and stabilize the people's livelihoods," Park said in a new year's message. "I hope all of you will unite strength in laying the groundwork for an economic leap."

   KEY WEST, Florida (AP) _ The first commercial passenger flight from Key West to Cuba in more than 50 years landed Monday in Havana, capping several years of efforts to reunite the two islands, though regular air service still appeared a distant prospect.   U.S. Customs and Border Protection gave the final approval for the flight Monday morning, and the nine-passenger aircraft departed 90 minutes later at 10 a.m., Key West International Airport director Peter Horton said.   ``This is just a te

   The price of natural gas will be raised an average 5.8 percent from Jan. 1 to reflect a recent hike in import prices, the government said Tuesday.    The price of liquefied natural gas supplied by the Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS) will be raised by 6.1 percent for the industrial sector, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.    "The rate hike comes as the country urgently needs to secure enough supply to meet growing demands for gas from the suspension of (three) nuclear reactors,

   SARASOTA, Florida (AP) -- Dr. Kenneth Edelin, a Boston physician at the center of a landmark abortion case in the 1970s, died Monday morning in Sarasota, Florida. He was 74.   Edelin's wife, Barbara, confirmed that he died after suffering from cancer.   She said that her husband was a great teacher and mentor, guiding many young doctors over his career.   ``He was a great advocate for the rights of women to have choice in their own reproductive freedom,'' Barbara Edelin said. ``Particularly f

   North Korea may stage provocations against South Korea early next year as part of efforts to further ensure internal unity following the execution of leader Kim Jong-un's once-powerful uncle and his associates, a Seoul think tank said Tuesday.   The North executed Jang Song-thaek on charges of treason, along with other officials in early December. The shocking series of purges sparked concerns over potential instability in the isolated country.    "There is a possibility that the North could