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Seoul court rules that Climate Ministry must cancel $21M fine on BMW Korea

Published: 16 Mar. 2026, 13:23 Updated: 16 Mar. 2026, 19:13

The logo of BMW is seen inside a car dealer in Nijmegen, Netherlands, on Feb. 26, 2025. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

A Seoul court ruled that the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment must cancel a 32.1 billion won ($21 million) fine imposed on BMW Korea over the series of vehicle fires in 2018, legal sources said on Monday.

The Seoul Administrative Court ruled in favor of BMW Korea on Jan. 15. The lawsuit stems from an investigation launched by the government in 2018 after a series of fires broke out in BMW vehicles across Korea.

A joint public-private investigation team under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport reported in December 2018 that cracks in the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) cooler caused coolant to leak, which led to the fires. The EGR cooler cools exhaust gas from the engine before sending it back into the system.

Based on the findings, the Land Ministry fined BMW Korea approximately 11.8 billion won in 2019, claiming the company was aware of the defect but failed to recall the affected vehicles.

The Environment Ministry imposed another fine of about 32.1 billion won in March 2024, stating that BMW Korea modified key parts without reporting the changes as required under the Clean Air Conservation Act.

At the time, BMW Korea argued that the changes were “minor and did not require reporting under the law.”

The court sided with BMW Korea.

BMW's 2026 BMW X5 [AP/YONHAP]

“The modifications [...] only involved auxiliary components, such as brackets, hoses and pipes,” the court said. “These items are excluded from reporting requirements under relevant laws and regulations.

“It is difficult to conclude that the changes to these parts caused significant problems with the safety or durability of the EGR cooler.”

The court added that the Environment Ministry did not present objective data showing how the component changes affected cooling efficiency.

“Even if the changes to the parts were related to the fires, penalties already imposed by the Land Ministry and the ongoing criminal trial would be enough to address the issue,” the court said.

The Environment Ministry appealed the ruling, sending the case to the Seoul High Court.

Separately, BMW Korea filed a lawsuit at the Seoul Administrative Court in 2019, seeking to cancel the Land Ministry’s 11.8 billion won fine. However, the case remains suspended until the Seoul Central District Court concludes the criminal trial — now in its fourth year — involving BMW Korea and its current and former employees on charges of violating the Motor Vehicle Management Act regarding the 2018 vehicle fires.

Vehicle owners also filed another class action lawsuit against BMW Korea in 2018. The case is still ongoing at the same court.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY CHOI SEO-IN [[email protected]]