S. Korea orders recall of 125,500 Volkswagen cars

The VW Logo is photographed at a car at the Car Show in Frankfurt, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015. Volkswagen has admitted that it intentionally installed software programmed to switch engines to a cleaner mode during official emissions testing. The software then switches off again, enabling cars to drive more powerfully on the road while emitting as much as 40 times the legal pollution limit. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

SEOUL, South Korea—The South Korean government said Thursday it had ordered Volkswagen to recall 125,500 diesel vehicles, after tests confirmed the German automaker had faked emissions results from the cars’ engines.

READ: German auto giant Volkswagen slams into huge false emission scam

Announcing the results of the tests, the Environment Ministry also said it was fining the company 14.1 billion won ($12.3 million).

Volkswagen should submit its detailed recall plans including how to improve emissions of the cars in question to the ministry by January 6, it said in a statement.

The vehicles were mostly those sold in South Korea between 2008 and 2015, and included the popular Tiguan model.

The world’s biggest carmaker by sales has admitted that up to 11 million diesel cars worldwide are fitted with devices that can switch on pollution controls when they detect the car is undergoing testing.

READ: Volkswagen admits 11 million cars have emissions cheating device

They then switch off the controls when the car is on the road, allowing it to spew out harmful levels of emissions.

The Environment Ministry in Seoul had conducted tests on a number of models apart from the Tiguan, including the Golf, Audi A3, Jetta and Beetle.