For the second time this year, a laptop battery by LG Chem malfunctioned on Thursday, melting down and destroying itself in an LG laptop. While no one suffered injuries, LG has voluntarily stopped selling the laptop model in question.
The malfunction happened to a graduate student in South Korea. The laptop model, which LG has not identified, was sold only in South Korea and is no longer produced. Jik Soo Kim, a spokeman for LG Electronics, told the Associated Press the company was investigating the occurrence.
The last LG Chem battery mishap occurred in January, when a Korean reporter’s laptop began to spark and smoke before exploding. While the incident damaged the company’s reputation in Korea where it was widely reported, an independent investigation later determined it was caused by “an external shock under an extremely high temperature,” and LG has not recalled the battery.
