[THE INVESTOR] Prosecutors will summon Park Dong-hoon, former head of Audi Volkswagen Korea, on July 5, to question him over the automaker’s emission scandal.

Seoul’s Central District Prosecutor’s Office on June 29 said it will bring Park as a key witness to the case over VW cheating pollution emissions test for defective units. 


During investigation, if prosecutors find out Park took part in the scandal or ordered others to manipulate documents of emission and noise level tests, his status could change from a witness to a suspect, an official with the prosecutor said.

Park, who is currently the chief executive of Renault Samsung, headed Volkswagen Korea from its initiation in 2005 to 2013, until he moved to Renault Samsung. During his tenure at VW, he is recognized for increasing the sales of the carmaker tenfold and also heading the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association.

Earlier, prosecutors found out that VW manipulated documents from August 2010 to February 2015 and changed the software of VW’s gasoline model Golf 1.4 TSI to meet the emission and noise level standards.

Last week, prosecutors arrested an executive, identified by his surname Yoon, 52, and put him in custody on charges of submitting manipulated documents to Korean authorities.

Prosecutors also plan to summon current key executives, including president Johannes Tamer, to see if they were involved in the case.

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)