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| Ha Jong-sun of Barun Law, who is leading a class action suit against BMW over fire-prone engines, speaks during a press conference at the law firm's office in Seoul, Monday. The lawyer said BMW drivers in Korea would file lawsuits against government officials and send letters to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Donald Trump. / Yonhap |
By Park Jae-hyuk
BMW drivers in Korea sent letters to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Donald Trump to urge the German and U.S. authorities to investigate the cause of engine fires in BMW vehicles, an attorney for the drivers said Monday.
The so-called "BMW fire victims group" consisting of 1,000 BMW car owners in Korea also said they are considering filing lawsuits against government officials at the transport and environment ministries for their alleged dereliction of duty.
"We decided to send letters to Merkel via German Ambassador to Korea Stephan Auer to ask the German government and prosecutors to investigate BMW headquarters for its alleged concealment of the defect," Ha Jong-sun of Barun Law told reporters at the law firm's office in Seoul.
The lawyer added the victims would send letters to Trump to call on him to issue an executive order to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board to initiate its own investigation into potential defects in exhaust-gas recirculation (EGR) valves and coolers in BMW's SUVs.
"Accordingly there is an immediate need to check the safety of EGR valves and coolers in X3, X5 and X6 diesel SUVs sold in the U.S. to prevent fatal car fires and save innocent lives on U.S. highways and roads," Lee Gwang-deok said in the letter.
The victims plan to ship a burnt BMW vehicle to the U.S., as the cause of its fire has not been discovered in Korea.
They expect the U.S. president to take an appropriate measure, considering he has been hostile toward German carmakers.
"I have been enjoying driving BMW cars for their driving pleasure and quality until the outbreak of fires on July 19. We have lost trust in BMW because of their behavior with regard to hiding the defects in EGR valves and coolers since 2016," Lee said in the letters to Merkel and Trump.
"As a result, we started to have a negative image of Germany itself, because BMW has concealed the defect and has not been telling the whole truth."
The victims said they are considering claiming damages against Vice Minister for Transport Kim Jeong-ryeol, Vice Minister of Environment Ahn Byung-ok, Korea Transportation Safety Authority Director Kwon Byung-yoon and the National Institute of Environmental Research's Transportation Pollution Research Center head Hong You-deog.
They will file lawsuits against the four government officials Wednesday, unless the vice minister of transport confirms at a National Assembly hearing today that the ministry will conduct stress and simulation tests on BMW vehicles.
The victims criticized the transport ministry for its belated response to the engine fires and for refusing their requests to inspect the vehicles.
They have already filed criminal and civil complaints against BMW's German headquarters and its local subsidiary for having concealed defects in the diesel vehicles over the past two years, as BMW belatedly confessed last month.
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