[2026 Parliamentary Audit] "Tesla FSD Under U.S. Government Investigation... We Should Verify It Ourselves, Too"

Criticism raised at Korea Transportation Safety Authority audit on October 8
Hwang Unha questions Tesla Korea and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
Choi Youngseok: "Korean government should also obtain Tesla's internal documents"

Calls have emerged for the government to directly verify the safety of Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) advanced driver-assistance system. Tesla models made in the United States and sold in South Korea currently offer FSD (Supervised), and advocates say the Korean government should take a more active role, given that FSD safety verification procedures are also underway in the United States.

At the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee's parliamentary audit of the Korea Transportation Safety Authority on October 8, Rep. Hwang Un-ha of the Rebuilding Korea Party criticized the government for not conducting separate performance tests on FSD's driving capabilities. While the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating nine reported FSD malfunctions, including one fatal incident, no defects have been reported in South Korea, and no separate investigation or verification has been carried out.

A Tesla driver drives with their hands off the steering wheel in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Yonhap News Agency.

A total of 227,902 Tesla vehicles have been sold in South Korea to date. Of these, 7,157 vehicles can use FSD (Supervised), and 47,146 are eligible for FSD Lite. More than 170,000 Chinese-made vehicles, accounting for 75% of the total, cannot use the feature. Under the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA), FSD is available only in U.S.-made vehicles, based on the manufacturers' self-certification that they comply with U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

Choi Youngseok, chair of the Automotive Consumer Committee at the Citizens' Coalition for Consumer Sovereignty, who attended the audit as a witness, said, "The NHTSA is at the pre-recall investigation stage regarding FSD safety." He added, "In July this year, internal Tesla documents confirmed that the company 'knew cameras alone posed a risk.' The U.S. government has requested their submission, so our government should also obtain and review the relevant documents."

According to the Citizens' Coalition for Consumer Sovereignty, U.S. safety authorities are analyzing crashes in which FSD failed to detect or warn of reduced visibility to determine whether a recall is warranted. More than 80 cases involving traffic violations, including running red lights, are also under investigation. Critics say that although South Korea generally relies on manufacturers' self-certification, the government should conduct its own investigations and establish relevant standards, as safety concerns continue to arise.

A Tesla traveling on a national highway in Sejong City was completely destroyed by fire in 2023. Sejong Fire Headquarters, Yonhap News.

Tesla vehicles' doors also came under scrutiny because they cannot be opened if the power is cut off, such as in a fire. In August, the Chinese government issued a recall notice covering 2.98 million Tesla vehicles. The reported concern was that the emergency door-release mechanism was difficult to distinguish, making it hard to locate and operate in an emergency. Efforts to improve regulations are also underway in the United States, where legislation has been introduced to require mechanical door-release mechanisms and a means of entry from outside the vehicle.

By contrast, no defect investigations or corrective actions have taken place in South Korea. Choi claimed that an investigation into a fatal Tesla vehicle fire in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, in 2024 was inadequate because the fire service, police and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport had different scopes of inquiry. On October 7, the organization filed a police complaint against Tesla Korea and the officials responsible, alleging violations of the Motor Vehicle Management Act.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.