Volkswagen has been fined almost £8.7 million and ordered to recall 125,000 cars in South Korea.

The latest setback in the diesel emissions scandal will also see a suspension of new car sales under the measures demanded by the country’s environment ministry, the FT reported.

The environment agency said that it was currently carrying out its own investigation into VW’s emissions ‘defeat device’ and would be expanding this to include 15 other manufacturers.

South Korea is the first nation after the US – where the German manufacturer was forced to recall nearly 500,000 vehicles – to take measures based on its own probe into the emissions scandal.