Volkswagen Korea, the local unit of German automaker Volkswagen, said Monday that it would not take legal action against the South Korean government's decision to ban sales and revoke the certifications of its 80 vehicle models.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Environment also separately slapped the German automaker with fines of 17.8 billion won ($16 million) for 47 models that are thought to have passed the local authentication process by cheating on gas emissions tests.  

The punitive measure was announced after an extensive probe into the company over the allegations that it obtained approval from the local authorities with faked reports on noise level, fuel efficiency and emissions results.

The number of vehicles subject to the decision is 83,000. The vehicles are those that the automaker sold in South Korea between 2009 and July 25 this year.

The total number of Audi and Volkswagen vehicles, whose certifications have been canceled so far, is 209,000, some 68 percent of more than 300,000 cars that the automaker has sold here from 2007 onwards.

"We reached a conclusion that we need to move toward re-certification and resolve the current situation," said an official at Volkswagen Korea.

In January, the ministry filed a complaint with the prosecution, claiming that the local unit of the German carmaker violated the Clean Air Conservation Act by cheating on gas emissions tests.  (Yonhap)