LG exec cleared of vandalizing Samsung washers during IFA trade show in Germany

Can I just start this story with: Lol.

While it’s not unusual for competing tech companies to try everything in their arsenal to gain a competitive advantage, vandalizing washing machines doesn’t seem like the most productive use of time — or the most effective strategy in getting ahead in the market.

Nonetheless, that was the charge brought against one South Korean LG executive during his trip in September to Germany’s IFA trade show, where both companies unveiled new products.

Yonhap News Agency reported Friday that “LG staff members were spotted breaking the doors of Samsung’s washing machines at the shops, and were reported to the local police by shop clerks.”

But it added that the Seoul Central District Court “found Jo Seong-jin not guilty” due to a lack of evidence — namely Samsung’s inability to prove that Seong-jin “actually broke the washers [or] that he had intended to do so.”

But that’s not all.

LG went so far as to put out a press release following the incident, in which it claimed “certain parts of Samsung’s washers are vulnerable.”

Again, the court sided with LG, saying it wasn’t strictly false information.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvrQBRHAc38&feature=youtu.be