LG Display on Sunday "attacked" Samsung Electronics' subsidiary Samsung Display for allegedly stealing its OLED panel technology, following a prosecution decision to indict for Samsung employees involved in a case of alleged industrial spying. LG Display executives expressed regret over what it called the "illegal and systematic" leak of its technology and called on Samsung Display to compete fairly.

Samsung Display said the indictment was excessive, arguing that the technology in question was already widely known.

On Friday, the Suwon District Prosecutor's Office charged four Samsung Display employees and the CEO of an LG Display subcontractor without detention for breaching the unfair competition law and the law protecting confidential business information.

The Samsung Display employees are charged with illegally acquiring LG Display's business secrets about OLED-related technologies by getting information when visiting the LG Display subcontractor's office in 2010.

Seperately, LG Electronics's home appliances chief and two other employees was indicted on a charge of deliberately damaging Samsung Electronics washing machines.

Samsung filed an official complaint in September, accusing Jo Seong-jin, president of LG Electronics' home appliance division and other LG employees of deliberately damaging Samsung washers at SATURN Berlin Steglitz, a German electronics shop.

Jo posted a video clip on YouTube in which he refutes allegations. In a blog post, Jo said he didn't have any intention of breaking the products of a rival company in front of so many people in such a public place.The footage shows Jo and other executives examining Samsung's laundry machine and pressing down on the doors of the machine several times for awhile.Jo, however, said it was part of testing the washers, which is ordinarily done by customers.

LG had agreed to pay for what it called accidental damage to four machines following mediation by German authorities.