Try this:
step 1
Go to this site http://members.tripod.com/aiwaownersnetwork/pages/lg/5000_series_firmware.html
And download the zip file.
Extract the zip and burn the file onto a CD.
Load the CD into the player and select region 0
Switch off and back on.
step 2 - this is the clever bit..
If when you then try and play a dvd (non region 2) it still says "check region code" then using your remote, press disply then disc menu then play in that sequence quite quickly. It honestly works ! Because i`d alrady tried step one above, im not sure if you could just try step 2, might work without the software upgrade ???