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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/south-korea-to-ban-about-20000-bmw-vehicles-after-engine-fires Singapore BMW owners be aware. SEOUL (REUTERS) - South Korea's transport ministry said on Tuesday (Aug 14) that it has banned some 20,000 BMW vehicles from the streets amid mounting public fears about engine fires. The ban took effect at midnight on Tuesday. The driving ban comes after 27 engines went up in flames between January and July, which prompted BMW’s Korea unit to apologise last week and issue a recall of 106,000 diesel vehicles - including the 520d model - from Aug 20. Amid public concerns over safety, the government order affects about 20,000 BMW cars that are part of the recall but yet to receive safety checks, according to the transport ministry. "I am asking owners of the BMW cars subject to the recall to actively cooperate to prevent bigger accidents, despite your inconvenience," Transport Minister Kim Hyun-mee told a press conference. Those who own the affected vehicles can drive for safety checks, the ministry said, adding that the ban is intended for quicker safety checks rather than punitive action against the owners. Officials at the German automaker identified the root cause as defects in the exhaust gas re-circulation system, while the South Korean government is conducting a separate probe into the case and planning to take legal action if necessary. The recall order would be effective as soon as owners of the affected cars receive a mail notice, as early as Aug 15, the transport minister said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyLpmLBgOow Video shows American ambassador in South Korea after being wounded with a blade The US ambassador to South Korea, Mark Lippert, was slashed on his face and arm by a blade-wielding assailant shouting anti-war slogans in an attack in Seoul Thursday, police and television reports said. The United States strongly condemned the "act of violence" which left the ambassador bleeding profusely as he was taken to hospital, and said that President Barack Obama had spoken with him." The President called (Lippert) to tell him that he and his wife Robyn are in his thoughts and prayers, and to wish him the very best for a speedy recovery," said Bernadette Meehan, National Security Council spokeswoman. Witnesses said a man with a blade concealed in his right hand attacked Lippert as he was attending a breakfast function at the Sejong Cultural Institute in central Seoul. Video footage in the immediate aftermath of the attack showed the ambassador being rushed out of the building holding one hand to his bleeding right cheek, and his other hand smeared with blood with an apparent wound to the wrist. Lippert, 42, was bundled into a police car and rushed to hospital, where a US embassy spokesman said he was in a "stable" condition. http://news.yahoo.com/us-ambassador-attacked-seoul-231729097.html

I was actually there that day, landed that morning too. I think some of the ppl on my plane might have been inside the buses there. I avoided it cos my hotel was in Incheon, so didn't need to travel into town yet. Saw the aftermath in the afternoon. Some of the cars looked to be in really bad shape. Visibility that morning was about 1.5meters but cleared up when i had to travel out. Was quite impressed the pilots could actually land the plane when viewing from the on-board tv/camera, cannot see the runway until just before touchdown. Power. Korean air stewardesses quite chio also, but i shy to take foto. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31403615 Two dead in 100-car South Korea pile-up Police said a bus may have gone into the back of a car, starting the pile-up At least two people have been killed in a pile-up involving about 100 cars on a bridge near South Korea's Incheon International Airport. Another 42 people were injured in the incident, eight of them seriously, the Yonhap news agency reports. The cause is not clear, but police said initial reports suggested a bus had hit the back of a car in foggy conditions. The bridge connects Incheon and the capital, Seoul, to the airport on Yongjing island. The pile-up occurred at about 09:30 local time (00:30 GMT). Authorities said icy roads were also a factor. TV footage showed emergency rescue workers trying to get to a mass of twisted and crumpled vehicles on the fog-covered bridge. Authorities said they had blocked off lanes on both sides of the bridge At least 100 cars were involved There was heavy fog on the bridge at the time of the incident "I heard a series of bangs in front of me. Then I was rear-ended by a following car," cab driver Yoo Sang-young told the Yonhap news agency. "I felt my car turning around and hitting a protection rail. I then lost consciousness." Another driver said he could not see ahead of him in the thick fog. "I slowed down but still rammed into the cars piled up in front of me," he said. The Seoul-bound side of the bridge and a number of lanes in the other direction have been shut down. But the Associated Press news agency quoted police official Park Sang-yeoul as saying the damaged cars had now been removed from the cross-sea bridge.