The appointment comes as the local Company faces a major PR battle to repair the Korean Companies reputation following revelations that the local operations mislead consumers on three separate occasions over the energy labelling of appliances. Cho, who is set to restructure LG’s local operations in light of their recent appliance crisis, has faced similar problems in the past. Last year LG Electronics Canada issued a recall notice for one of its mobile phones after the handset was found to no longer comply with Canadian radio-emissions standards. Cho, then president and CEO of LG Electronics Canada, recommended that all LG 150 phones should be returned and consumer refunded. Reporting to Cho will be David Brand the Companies Marketing Director who now faces the task of rebuilding LG as a brand in the Australian market. According to LG sources, Cho is set to meet with Choice Australia executives who last week handed over information to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission that could result in massive fines for LG Australia when it was revealed that an LG refrigerator was using 876 kilowatt of power a year, compared to the advertised 738kWh. Choice also revealed that two refrigerators, sold by LG Australia including the L197NFS model and the P197WFS – were found to contain an illegal device that activates an energy-saving mode when it detects room conditions similar to those in a test laboratory. An LG spokesperson said “Cho is an experienced executive who is keen to fix the problems that LG is currently facing. He is keen to meet with Choice and is putting into place new brand marketing programs as well as programs that ensure that the problem over energy labelling does not happen again”.
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