LG Electronics Inc's home appliances chief was indicted on a charge of deliberately damaging Samsung Electronics Co Ltd washing machines, escalating the feud between South Korea's top consumer electronics companies.
A LG Electronics spokeswoman confirmed on Sunday that home appliances chief Jo Seong-jin and two other employees were indicted by local prosecutors. Samsung Electronics declined to comment, and prosecutors could not be reached for comment.
The court case marks the latest dispute between the cross-town rivals, who compete on several fronts like televisions and home appliances. They have quarreled publicly over issues such as whose refrigerator could hold more, and who had a bigger share of the domestic air conditioning market.
The indictment against LG's appliances chief follows months of investigation. Samsung filed an official complaint in September, accusing Jo and other LG employees of deliberately damaging Samsung washers at retail stores in Germany.
LG had agreed to pay for what it called accidental damage to four machines following mediation by German authorities, but couldn't resist taking a pot shot at the quality of its rival's products. Samsung railed against those "slanderous claims" and filed its complaint.
"It is questionable whether there is sufficient evidence to prove that the president of a global company deliberately destroyed the machines where employees of the competing company were present," said Ham Yoon-keun, a lawyer who will be defending Jo in court, in a statement provided by LG.
"The truth will be revealed in the courts."
People familiar with the matter told Reuters that representatives of Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics met recently in an ultimately unsuccessful mediation attempt by prosecutors.
Separately on Sunday, Samsung Electronics' subsidiary Samsung Display said four of its employees were indicted on Friday on charges of stealing organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panel technology from LG Electronics affiliate LG Display Co Ltd.
Samsung Display said the indictment was excessive, arguing that the technology in question was already widely known.
"We are confident that the innocence of our employees will be proven in court," Samsung said in a statement.
LG Display in a statement expressed regret over what it called the "illegal and systematic" leak of its technology and called on Samsung Display to compete fairly. Prosecutors could not be reached for comment.
