[THE INVESTOR]  About 85 percent of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphones in South Korea has been recalled since Samsung Electronics began a voluntary recall program on Sept. 19, according to the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards on Oct. 10.

A total of 389,000 units out of the 456,000 Galaxy Note 7s that had been manufactured between July 30 and Sept. 2 have been retrieved by the company, according to the state-run agency.

Of those recalled, 352,000 units have been replaced with new ones, with 21,000 contracts canceled, it added.

“Still, some 70,000 units of the Galaxy Note 7 are being in use,” KATS said in a release. “We demanded Samsung Electronics speed up the process of recalling the devices while we ask consumers to cooperate in returning the smartphones.”

Samsung Electronics officially resumed sales of Galaxy Note 7s with a new type of battery on Oct. 2.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)