South Korea approves VW recall of Tiguan vehicles after three earlier rejections

South Korea said on Thursday that it has approved Volkswagen's plan to fix 27,000 Tiguan vehicles, after rejecting the German automaker's recall proposals three times previously.

In November 2015, South Korea became the first country outside the United States to punish Volkswagen on the basis of its own emissions tests, slapping it with a record fine and ordering a recall of 125,522 vehicles.

The ministry said it plans to review recall plans for the remaining vehicles, which encompass 13 model variants from Volkswagen and Audi.

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)