[THE INVESTOR] The prosecution will summon a Volkswagen executive from Germany on Sept. 21, to grill him over his involvement in the German carmaker’s emission-rigging scandal. 

Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office on Sept. 20 said it will question an executive from Germany, whose name was not identified, as a witness to the probe into the automaker’s cheating on vehicle emissions test. 

It is the first time that an executive from the German headquarters is being summoned by the prosecution since the state authorities launched a probe in January. It is also the first time for a German VW executive to be questioned outside of his home country after the firm admitted using cheating devices in September last year, spurring investigations in many countries around the world. 




During the investigation, the authorities are planning to find out what role the German headquarters played in the engine manipulation scheme in South Korea. 

Prosecutors suspect the German headquarters ordered the installation of the defeat device in its Audi and Volkswagen diesel vehicles to pass the emissions test here.

The embattled model, which is equipped with EA 189 diesel engine, sold more than 125,000 units in South Korea, and 10 million units globally. 

The authorities have arrested a local executive of Audi Volkswagen Korea, only identified with his surname Yoon, in June. It also summoned former chief of VW Korea Park Dong-hoon, CEO of VW Korea Thomas Kuehl, and Johannes Thammer, CEO of Audi Volkswagen Korea.

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