By Lee Hyo-sik
An interest group for Korea's five carmakers is found to have been "pressed" by the government to modify its press releases, which hinted at the possibility of the companies shifting production abroad.
The Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA) released a statement Thursday, suggesting domestic carmakers would have no other choice but to move their production facilities to foreign countries where they can manufacture cars at lower costs.
The association said its members, which are already grappling with high labor costs, will further lose their competitive edge if the court sides with unions by recognizing bonuses and other financial incentives as part of base salaries.
The five are Hyundai, Kia, GM Korea, Renault Samsung and Ssangyong.
It argued the court should not order carmakers to reimburse overdue wages retroactively, which would cost Kia 3 trillion won ($2.7 billion) alone. It added that the companies would be left with no other choice but to take plants out of the country.
But several hours later, the association released a modified statement to retract its earlier claim, saying the carmakers were not considering moving their domestic plants abroad. It also asked media outlets to delete or revise their earlier reports.
A KAMA spokesman said the lobby group was never contacted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy regarding its controversial statement, stressing it decided voluntarily to amend it.
But a trade ministry official admitted to contacting KAMA and asking it to correct its statement to claim no local carmakers were considering moving plants out of Korea.
"As soon as I read articles about KAMA's press release, I called one of its officials and asked him to correct it," the official said. "When I asked him whether any of the five domestic carmakers plan to relocate their factories to foreign countries, he said no. Then, I asked him to correct the association's statement and release the revised one. All I did was correct misinformation."
The KAMA spokesman said the association decided to modify its statement, insisting media outlets focused on what it doesn't want them to.
"The purpose of releasing our statement is to inform the public that carmakers will face a crisis if the court sides with Kia's union on Aug. 17, ordering the firm to pay overdue wages retrospectively," the spokesman said. "But most media reports primarily dealt with the hypothetical situation we briefly mentioned. As far as we know, no local carmakers plan to relocate their domestic plants overseas. So we decided to ask media outlets to delete or correct their earlier reports."
But he said the trade ministry neither contacted nor pressed KAMA to modify its statement.
An interest group for Korea's five carmakers is found to have been "pressed" by the government to modify its press releases, which hinted at the possibility of the companies shifting production abroad.
The Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA) released a statement Thursday, suggesting domestic carmakers would have no other choice but to move their production facilities to foreign countries where they can manufacture cars at lower costs.
The association said its members, which are already grappling with high labor costs, will further lose their competitive edge if the court sides with unions by recognizing bonuses and other financial incentives as part of base salaries.
The five are Hyundai, Kia, GM Korea, Renault Samsung and Ssangyong.
It argued the court should not order carmakers to reimburse overdue wages retroactively, which would cost Kia 3 trillion won ($2.7 billion) alone. It added that the companies would be left with no other choice but to take plants out of the country.
But several hours later, the association released a modified statement to retract its earlier claim, saying the carmakers were not considering moving their domestic plants abroad. It also asked media outlets to delete or revise their earlier reports.
A KAMA spokesman said the lobby group was never contacted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy regarding its controversial statement, stressing it decided voluntarily to amend it.
But a trade ministry official admitted to contacting KAMA and asking it to correct its statement to claim no local carmakers were considering moving plants out of Korea.
"As soon as I read articles about KAMA's press release, I called one of its officials and asked him to correct it," the official said. "When I asked him whether any of the five domestic carmakers plan to relocate their factories to foreign countries, he said no. Then, I asked him to correct the association's statement and release the revised one. All I did was correct misinformation."
The KAMA spokesman said the association decided to modify its statement, insisting media outlets focused on what it doesn't want them to.
"The purpose of releasing our statement is to inform the public that carmakers will face a crisis if the court sides with Kia's union on Aug. 17, ordering the firm to pay overdue wages retrospectively," the spokesman said. "But most media reports primarily dealt with the hypothetical situation we briefly mentioned. As far as we know, no local carmakers plan to relocate their domestic plants overseas. So we decided to ask media outlets to delete or correct their earlier reports."
But he said the trade ministry neither contacted nor pressed KAMA to modify its statement.
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