Prosecutors Reinvestigate Former BMW Korea CEO Over 'Vehicle Serial Fires'

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Kim Hyo-jun, former CEO of BMW Korea, who was cleared of charges related to the 2018 series of vehicle fires controversy, will undergo prosecution investigation again.

According to the consumer rights civic group Consumer Sovereignty Citizens' Assembly on the 20th, the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office recently ordered the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office to reinvestigate former CEO Kim.

In May, the prosecution indicted four BMW Korea executives and the company on charges of concealing defects in vehicles despite knowing about them. They are accused of hiding the fact that a defect in the engine exhaust gas recirculation system could lead to car fires by either not submitting required documents to the government or submitting them with related expressions deleted.

However, former CEO Kim was judged to have only been informed of the related matters after the fire incidents and it was deemed difficult to consider that he ordered concealment, resulting in a dismissal of charges. BMW's German headquarters and its executives were also cleared of charges, as they were considered not subject to the obligation to disclose defects under the Automobile Management Act.

The Consumer Sovereignty Citizens' Assembly appealed this decision in June. The group urged reinvestigation, stating that both the domestic representative who manufactured and sold BMW vehicles and the German corporation bear responsibility. The Seoul High Prosecutors' Office accepted the appeal regarding former CEO Kim but dismissed the objection against the German corporation.

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