Ministry Of External Affairs Summons South Korean Ambassador Over Hyundai Pakistan Dealer's Post

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has summoned South Korea's Ambassador to express the Government of India's "strong displeasure" regarding the social media post sent out by a Hyundai dealer in Pakistan. On February 5, a Twitter account belonging to Hyundai Nishat Motor Pvt. Ltd, a dealer principal with outlets across Pakistan, had put out a post on 'Kashmir Solidarity Day,' supporting the separatists in Kashmir. According to the official response of the MEA, the Republic of Korea's Foreign Minister, Chung Eui-yong had also called S. Jaishankar Minister of External Affairs, and among other things, said that they "regretted the offence caused to the people and Government of India by the social media post."

Our response to media queries on social media post by Hyundai Pakistan on the so called Kashmir Solidarity Day: https://t.co/2QlubQwXJJ https://t.co/S5AkS3wT9a pic.twitter.com/QkkqwIdv64

— Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) February 8, 2022

The statement shared by MEA's official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "The Ambassador of the Republic of Korea was summoned by the Ministry of External Affairs yesterday on 7th February 2022. The strong displeasure of the Government on the unacceptable social media post by Hyundai Pakistan was conveyed to him. It was highlighted that this matter concerned India's territorial integrity on which there could be no compromise."

Also Read: Hyundai Pakistan Dealer's Post On Kashmir Lands Hyundai India In A Soup, Automaker Issues Statement

The incident has led to a situation where the hashtag #boycotthyundai is trending and calls of cancelling bookings of Hyundai cars have also been raised on social media.

Following the incident Hyundai Motor India released a statement on February 6, saying that it stands strong on its ethos of respecting nationalism, and expressing zero-tolerance towards such insensitive communication. However, several Twitterati expressed that the South Korean carmaker wasn't unequivocal in its statement and asked for a more straightforward apology. In fact, similar views were expressed by the Indian government. Piyush Goyal, Cabinet Minister for Textiles, Commerce and Industry has said that the Government of India "has asked the company to be more forceful in unequivocal apology."

Also Read: Indian Government Asks Hyundai To Be More Forceful In Apology For Pakistan Dealer's Post On Kashmir

Hyundai Motor statement:#Hyundai #HyundaiIndia pic.twitter.com/Ir5JzjS2XP

— Hyundai India (@HyundaiIndia) February 8, 2022

Hyundai released a second statement earlier today, on February 8, in which it said, "As a business policy, Hyundai Motor Company does not comment on political and religious issues in any specific region. Therefore, it is clearly against Hyundai Motor's policy that the independently-owned distributor in Pakistan made unauthorised Kashmir-related social media post from their own accounts." It further added, "We have taken measures to ensure the distributor, which misused Hyundai brand identity, has removed the social media posts and we have put in place processes to prevent a future recurrence."

Also Read: Auto Sales January 2022: Hyundai Reclaims No. 2 Spot From Tata Motors

The since deleted post was shared on Hyundai Pakistan's social media handle, which belongs to a dealer principal with outlets across Pakistan

The statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs also said that while India welcomes investments by foreign companies in various sectors, the Government, also expects that such companies or their affinities will refrain from "false and misleading comments on matters of sovereignty and territorial integrity." As for Hyundai India, the incident has led to a situation where the hashtag #boycotthyundai is trending and calls of cancelling vehicle bookings have also been raised on social media.