Seoul (AFP) - Samsung and LG agreed Tuesday to end all pending legal disputes that had seen the South Korean electronics rivals accuse each other of stealing technology and vandalising products.

A recent series of feuds between the two giants even saw one senior LG executive indicted by prosecutors for allegedly sabotaging Samsung's washing machines at a trade fair in Germany last year.

The two firms' display panel-making subsidiaries have also accused each other of stealing technology in separate lawsuits, which saw four Samsung Display officials indicted.

Under Tuesday's agreement, the two sides vowed to end their courtroom battles and seek to resolve future disputes through dialogue.

"For ongoing legal disputes, we will take necessary steps to drop the charges and will ask for leniency from the relevant (law enforcement) authorities," they said in a joint statement.

Bitter competitors in home appliance and TV markets both at home and abroad, Samsung and LG have locked horns for years over patent disputes and attack ads denigrating each others' products.

Things got so bad at one point, that Seoul's trade minister arranged a meeting between the two firms' top executives in 2013 to broker a truce.