LG asked to reconsider Indonesia TV factory shift 

LG Electronics has been asked to reconsider its plan to move some of its TV productions in South Korea to Indonesia by the city that hosts them.

In a statement published Monday by Jang Seyong, the mayor of Gumi City, North Gyeongsang Province, the move was described as a "pity for the people of South Korea", in a time when the country was promoting policies for local companies to return their overseas operations back to the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

LG Electronics was the “pride of Gumi,” Jang said, and emphasized that the city hosted the company since 1974 at its industrial zones.

Jang expressed his hope that LG would reconsider the move and could continue to be a participant in a new plan the city was drawing up to become a “smart industrial zone” for a post-COVID-19 era.

Last week, the South Korean hardware maker announced that it was shifting two out of its six TV production lines at Gumi to Indonesia as part of its efforts to increase production efficiency.

The move would result in the yearly production capacity of its Cibitung plant at the Southeast Asian country increase by 50%, the company has said, allowing it to better serve Australia and other Asian markets.

Existing lines in Gumi will focus on making high-end models with rollable technology or in wall-paper concepts, LG has siad.