Kia's local plant unfazed by 3 new cases

Kia Motors Corp. said Monday most of its domestic plants are in operation as three new coronavirus cases reported Sunday were not related to assembly line workers.  

Kia said Sunday three assembly line workers in the Sohari plant in Gwangmyeong, south of Seoul, were infected with the coronavirus but corrected the information the following day. 

"The three confirmed cases turned out to be related to relatives of the plant's assembly line workers. So the plant's operation was not affected by the cases," a company spokesman said.  

Kia halted the operations of the Sohari plant from Sept. 16-21 after some of its workers tested positive for COVID-19, with all of the 6,000 employees at the plants staying at home.  

The plant's operations returned to normal last week as no more infections were reported at the plants. Eleven assembly line workers were confirmed to have been infected with the virus, with the number of related cases reaching 18.  

The company did not provide the value of production losses due to the suspension. The two plants in Gwangmyeong have a combined capacity of 320,000 units a year.  

Kia produces the K9 flagship sedan, the Stinger sports car and the Carnival minivan at the No. 1 plant in Gwangmyeong, and the Pride subcompact and the Stonic subcompact SUV at the No. 2 plant.

Kia has eight plants in Korea -- two in Gwangmyeong, three in Hwaseong and three in Gwangju -- and seven overseas ones -- three in China and one each in the United States, Slovakia, Mexico and India. Their overall capacity is 3.84 million units. (Yonhap)