South Korea orders Hyundai, Kia to recall 240,000 vehicles

South Korea has ordered Hyundai Motor and affiliate Kia Motors to recall 240,000 vehicles concerning safety flaws flagged by a whistleblower.

The move marks the very first compulsory recall ordered by the transport ministry for Hyundai and Kia, which had withstood an earlier request for a voluntary recall, and provides fresh credence to accusations made by Kim Gwang-ho, a Hyundai engineer with 26 years at the company.

The ministry has likewise asked prosecutors in Seoul to examine whether the car manufacturers presumably covered up the 5 defects, which impact 12 models, consisting of the Elantra, Sonata, Santa Fe and Genesis.

Hyundai and Kia, which had formerly argued that the defects presented no risk to driving safety, stated in a joint statement on Friday they would cede to the order.

They included there had been no reports of injuries or crashes due to the issues that include defects in parking brake warning lights, and rejected that there had been any cover-up.

In the first whistleblower case to strike South Korea’s automobile market, Kim has made accusations about 32 problems to regional regulators. The newest recalls covers five of those issues.

Kim likewise flew to the United States in 2016 to report security lapses to officials there and the automaker have since released a voluntary recall for a combined 1.5 million automobiles in North America and in South Korea over a problem that could cause engines to stall.