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It turned out that the party that informed the government that LG Electronics’ new dryer was on display in stores without obtaining the National Integrated Safety Certification (KC certification) was a competitor, Company S. As a result of this, LG Electronics delayed the launching new products, hurting sales, and Company S first brought a new dryer to market.
According to the industry on the 2nd, it was confirmed that in 2018, the informant of the case in which LG Electronics was investigated by the Korea Product Safety Management Service of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy and was charged by the prosecution for displaying non-certified dryers in stores was a competitor company S. Company S reportedly informed the Product Safety Management Agency that “LG Electronics is selling products that have not attained KC certification in the form of advance reservations.” The Product Safety Management Institute conducted an investigation based on the S Company report and discovered that LG Electronics’ 16kg Large Capacity Dual Inverter Heat Pump Trom Dryer was pre-selling without obtaining safety certification by KC. To distribute electronic products, it is mandatory to obtain the KC security certification.
At the time, LG Electronics is known to have been burdened by the fact that S Company, a newcomer to the dryer market, was chasing hard. First, if the KC security certification came out after receiving a reservation in advance, the delivery was sanctioned. After the incident, LG Electronics acquired KC certification and began selling dryers, but the delay in the launch date affected sales. On the other hand, S Company, who reported this, was able to put a new dryer on the market before LG Electronics.
The Product Safety Management Service, which received attention for this incident, is an organization under the Ministry of Industry, which was launched in September 2018 to protect consumers through research on products in the market. At the same time as the launch, the LG Electronics dryer incident revealed its presence. The industry explains that the previously ineffective government distribution product investigation system gained vitality from this incident.
In fact, reports of illegal and defective products being submitted to the Product Safety Management Agency are increasing rapidly. Last year, 8,206 reports were filed and the actual number of rapes was 4,450. Among them, it is known that there are many cases where investigations are initiated by reports from competitors such as LG Electronics. An industry expert explained: “The rights and interests of consumers must be protected, but there are aspects of using civil petitions to control competitors.”
In addition to LG Electronics, ‘Osys Korea’, which has not received safety certification to manufacture and sell laptops, was sanctioned by the Product Safety Management Agency. This is a case where L and B, who are companies that share electric scooters, were also penalized for not having KC certification. An official from the Office of Product Safety Management said: “Investigation of illegal and defective products is essential to protect consumer rights and interests.”
Reporter Jihoon Lee / Gyeongmok Noh [email protected]
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