Korea files complaint against Nissan Korea CEO for emissions manipulation

'배출가스 조작' 한국닛산 사장 검찰고발…캐시카이 판매정지
The Korean government has filed a criminal complaint against Nissan Korea's CEO, based on accusations the Japanese carmaker cheated on auto emissions tests.
Kim Hye-sung has the latest.

Korea's environment ministry has filed a criminal complaint against Nissan Korea for allegedly manipulating vehicle emissions tests.
The ministry also ordered a recall of 8-hundred-14 Qashqai SUVs sold from November 2015 to May this year and suspended future sales of the model.
It also fined the Japanese carmaker 2-hundred-86-thousand U.S. dollars.

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"The environment ministry has made quite a strong move by filing a criminal complaint against Nissan Korea. This means Korean prosecutors will launch a full investigation into the matter, and we will see the results come out fairly soon."

The SUV's emissions management system allegedly turns off automatically under regular driving conditions at temperatures over 35 degrees Celsius.
By turning off the device, fresh air cannot enter the engine compartment, producing more nitrogen oxide emissions.
Nissan Korea has denied any wrongdoing, saying the system turns off automatically in order to prevent engine damage from overheating.
It added that EU authorities did not find anything wrong after putting the vehicle through similar testing standards as Korean regulators.

The Korean government conducted emissions tests on 20 different diesel car models, including Nissan's Qashqai, after Volkswagen admitted last year to using a cheat device to falsify its emissions data.
Kim Hye-sung, Arirang News.