The rivalry among tech giants in South Korea, Samsung and LG, has escalated to an all-out investigation by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, starting with a search and seizure of LG's headquarters in Seoul, South Korea and the factory at Changwon, South Gyeongnam Province, early morning yesterday.
The dispute began when a lawsuit was filed by Samsung against LG, alleging that Jo Seong-jin, LG appliance's boss, and other executives "willfully sabotaged Samsung-made washing machines" in an electronic store during the IFA 2014 trade show in Berlin. The search includes the premises of LG as well as Jo Seong-jin's office.
The prosecutor's spokesman confirmed the said search, but did not give any comment about the search's scope and the exact charge the prosecution will execute. An official from LG also confirmed the aforementioned search and stated that LG was unaware of search's extent.
Samsung also filed lawsuit after the IFA trade show for "property damages and defamation" against Jo and other executives of LG Electronics. LG counter-sued Samsung earlier this December for "defamation and evidence tampering."
"Our executives, which included a company president, indeed paid this shop a visit to check out a number of products," LG said in its statement which was reported at the Journal last September, and added: "Unlike washing machines from other companies, a certain company's washing-machine model was particularly weak on the hinges."
As reported by the Journal, Samsung, in its statement, said "Despite our best efforts to avoid further confrontation and escalation of the situation, the company in question has tarnished not only Samsung's brand image, but also the reputation of Samsung employees by making slanderous claims that our washing machines were defective."
Travel ban was currently imposed by the prosecutors against Jo Seong-jin because of his failure to obey the order to attend investigation, despite multiple requests. LG stated that Jo will cooperate in the investigation after the Consumer Electronics Show 2015 in Las Vegas this January.