Samsung to adopt 5-day car rotation system in support of gov't energy-saving campaign

Samsung Group said Monday it plans to adopt a five-day vehicle rotation system, tightening its existing 10-day scheme in support of the government's energy-saving drive in the public sector to address concerns over fuel shortages in the wake of the Middle East crisis.

The announcement came around two weeks after the conglomerate adopted the 10-day rotation system across all of its domestic operations, under which employees were asked to refrain from driving one day out of every 10, based on the last digit of their license plate numbers.

Starting Wednesday, Samsung employees will be asked to voluntarily follow a five-day vehicle rotation system.

"The move is aimed at supporting the government's energy-saving drive amid the global energy crisis, while making efforts to seek additional reductions," Samsung Group said in a release.

LG Group also adopted a five-day rotation program for its domestic operations starting Monday, expanding its previous 10-day system.

The tightened move came after the government announced plans to implement a mandatory two-day vehicle rotation system in the public sector starting Wednesday, under which vehicles operated by the government and public entities, as well as their employees, will be allowed to run every other day.

Electric and hydrogen vehicles, as well as cars used by people with disabilities, pregnant women, or civil servants with limited access to public transportation, are excluded. Public parking lots will still operate under a five-day system.

Last week, the government raised its resource security crisis alert by a notch to Level 3, the second-highest level in Korea's four-tier crisis warning system.