현대자동차가 메르세데스-벤츠의 AMG, BMW의 M시리즈 등과 같은 자체 튜닝브랜드 출시를 검토 중이다. 한 업계 관계자는 “현대차 관계자들이 최근 독일 브라부스 등 유명 해외 튜닝업체들을 잇따라 만나고 있다. 자체 튜닝브랜드 출시를 앞두고 협력방안에 대해 논의했다”고 코리아헤럴드에 밝혔다. 최근 현대와 가장 활발히 논의를 나눈 곳이 바로 브라부스이다. 이 업체는 AMG모델을 포함해 벤츠만을 전문으로 튜닝하는 럭셔리브랜드로 이미 현대와는 인연이 깊다. 2006년에는 자회사(Car Research & Development)를 통해 현대 투싼 500대와 쌍용 렉스턴 300대를 한정판으로 제작한바 있고, 지난 2010년 파리모터쇼에서는 현대 i20의 튜닝모델을 선보여 화제가 되기도 했다.그 동안 국내에서는 각종 규제와 부정적인 사회 인식 때문에 튜닝시장이 음성적으로만 성장해왔다. 이때문에 현대차는 계열사인 현대모비스의 튜닝브랜드인 튜익스(Tuix)를 통해 소규모로 사업을 벌여왔다.반면 독

South Korean stocks fell 0.56 percent Tuesday as investors opted to unload shares on profit-taking after recent rallies, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed down 11.24 points to 2,013.93. Trading volume was light at 254.2 million shares worth 3.48 trillion won ($3.27 billion) with decliners outstripping gainers 496 to 303. Analysts said investors shifted their position to selling as the strong drive that l

The South Korean government said Tuesday that it has found no trace of radioactive materials in any fish or marine products recently caught in the country's neighboring seas.The latest test, conducted late last month, tested 118 samples of 16 species that are most popular in the country, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries."The test conducted in October found no trace of radioactive materials, such as cesium or iodine," it said in a press release."The ministry will continue to cond

A former chief of staff to late President Roh Moo-hyun will appear before prosecutors Wednesday to face questioning over suspicions surrounding the controversial disappearance of the 2007 inter-Korean summit transcript, prosecutors said Tuesday.Rep. Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), who was chief of staff at the time of the summit in 2007, has been notified to show up at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday.The summons co

South Korean stocks traded 0.38 percent lower late Tuesday morning, as large-cap tech firms and telecom companies drove down shares, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 7.77 points to 2,017.40 as of 11:20 a.m.Samsung Electronics shed 1.3 percent, with top mobile carrier SK Telecom falling 1.1 percent. In contrast, domestic-focused stocks gathered ground. Top Internet portal provider NAVER soared 2.4 percent and state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. rose nea

South Korean stocks closed 0.7 percent lower as investors sat on the sidelines amid economic uncertainties from China and the eurozone, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 14.25 points to finish at 2,025.17. Trading volume was light at 232.4 million shares worth 3.48 trillion won ($3.28 billion) with losers outpacing gainers 496 to 306.Analysts said Seoul shares closed lower as economic uncertainties stemming

국내 근로자의 이직 흐름이 대기업과 같은 고부가가치 산업에서 음식•숙박업과 같은 저부가 산업으로 쏠리고 있다는 분석이 나왔다. 이는 근로자의 노동이동성을 측정한 결과다. 한국은행 조사국 이은석,박창현,박세준 과장과 김주영 조사역 연구진은 3일 '산업간 노동이동성 분석,시사점'이란 보고서에서 "이러한 흐름을 완화하지 못하면 생산성 향상을 통한 경제성장 효과가 약화할 수 있다"고 밝혔다. 노동이동이란 근로자의 산업간,기업간,직업간 이직을 뜻한다. 보통 더 나은 월급, 근속연수, 근무 여건을 위한 상향 이동이 잦아야 바람직하다. 그럴수록 산업간 생산성 불균형이나, 근로자 간 임금격차, 나아가 사회적 불평등이 개선돼서다. 그러나 한국의 현실은 반대다. 연구진이 한국고용정보원 자료를 분석한 결과 2012년 저부가가치 서비스업으로 이직한 노동자의 52.8%는 제조업,고부가 서비스업과 같이 더 나은 부문 등에서 유입된 것으로 나타났다. 이 비율은 2003년(40.4%)보다 13

Korea’s current account surplus is likely to surpass that of Japan for the first time this year.Korea recorded an account surplus of $42.2 billion in January-August, compared to Japan’s $41.53 billion during the same period, according to the Bank of Korea on Sunday.By the end of the year, Korea’s surplus is expected to reach $63 billion in total, outperforming its neighbor by almost $2 billion, sources said.This is the first time that Korea has topped Japan in terms of accumulated account surplu

The Pakistani Taliban's ruling council met Saturday to choose a new leader after a US drone killed Hakimullah Mehsud, as a senior government minister launched a bitter attack on Washington over the strike.Mehsud, who was under a $5 million US government bounty, was buried late Friday after being killed when a drone targeted his car in a compound in North Waziristan tribal district.The killing of its young, energetic leader represents a major setback for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a co

Starvation, poverty, flooding, heat waves, droughts, war and disease already lead to human tragedies. They're likely to worsen as the world warms from man-made climate change, a leaked draft of an international scientific report forecasts.The Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will issue a report next March on how global warming is already affecting the way people live and what will happen in the future, including a worldwide drop in income. A leaked copy of a dr

Just six people managed enrol in Obamacare on day one of the health plan's troubled rollout, documents released by Republican lawmakers showed, in a new embarrassment for the White House.House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Darrell Issa released a document from a meeting on October 2, the day after HealthCare.gov went online, recording the paltry figure.By the end of October 2, two full days into the sign-up process, "there were 248 enrollments" nationwide, according to the n