In a statement, the authority said it was looking into cases of Hyundai vehicles having "unintended acceleration in reverse gear."

"It is premature to draw any conclusions at this point in time," it said.

The statement gave no further details, but the local newspaper Straits Times cited recent incidents involving taxis from operator ComfortDelGro, which leases Hyundai Sonata cars, among other models. It is Singapore's largest taxi operator with a fleet of 17,000 cabs.

Hyundai Motor said it is looking into the matter.

South Korean consumers have lodged complaints about accidents that they believed were caused by sudden unintended accelerations. But past government probes have found no evidence that this was linked to faulty vehicles.

At a public demonstration in 2013, the government tried to reproduce conditions that were believed to cause cars to suddenly accelerate without intention but those attempts failed. The ministry concluded that it was "reasonable" to see the sudden unintended acceleration phenomenon does not exist.

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AP Business Writer Youkyung Lee in Seoul contributed to this report.

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