Following BMW's late apologies and recall over the continued cases of engine fires affecting some of its models,... the South Korean government is seeking to implement a punitive damage system.
If approved, it will require the manufacturer of defective goods to provide much more substantial financial compensation to affected consumers.
Kim Hyo-sun reports.
The South Korean government is mulling over a wider punitive damage system to deal with the recent BMW auto fire crisis.
This comes amid public outrage over the German automaker's lackluster response despite a continued number of cases of BMW sedans bursting into flames.
The punitive damage system is intended to compensate consumers financially in amounts that far exceed the proven damage in cases when the manufacturer is found to have purposely acted illegally.

"As the class action and punitive damage system require companies to provide a larger amount of financial compensation to consumers, they need to make efforts to compensate them in advance."

The proposed system already has support at the National Assembly.

"We will look into implementing the punitive damages system when consumers are affected by a carmaker's failure to quickly identify the cause of a problem."

The Korean government is also seeking to adopt stricter criteria for submitting documents related to recalls,... levying penalties for insufficient documentation.
It also plans to fine the automaker one percent of its earnings when it's found to have attempted to hide or minimize the defects.
After recalling over 100-thousand vehicles in South Korea,... BMW is now widening the recall to Europe... where it plans to recall an additional 324-thousand diesel cars.
Kim Hyo-sun, Arirang News.