LG stopped selling laptops because of batteries

South Korean electronics company LG has stopped selling one of its laptop models after a report of battery melting.

LG's subsidiary, LG Chem, the battery maker, is investigating what happened, LG Electronics spokesman Jik Soo Kim said. Mr. Kim said the battery was designed to disintegrate - a safety measure to avoid the possibility of explosion. The laptop will no longer be manufactured and will only be sold in Korea, he said.

A graduate student is using a laptop, the battery flows out. In January 2008, another battery manufactured by LG Chem was used in an explosive LG laptop. Earlier this month, LG Electronics said an independent investigation of the explosion showed an incident caused by "external shocks in a high temperature environment".

The investigation was conducted by the Korea Electronic Technology Research Institute. The result was that the explosion was probably not possible under normal use. The trial did not reveal what was the original cause of high temperatures.

The business of personal computers, including LG laptops, accounted for about 2.5% of sales last year.