 "South Korean military concerned about spying, removes 1,300 Chinese-made cameras from bases")
South Korea’s military recently removed around 1,300 Chinese-made surveillance cameras from its bases over concerns about potential security risks, Yonhap News Agency reported Friday (September 13), citing an unnamed military official.
According to the report, the cameras were capable of connecting to a specific server in China, though no data had been compromised.
Masked origin of cameras
The cameras had been supplied by a South Korean company, but inspections earlier this year revealed their Chinese origin, the official said.
The company that supplied the cameras is suspected of falsifying the equipment’s country of origin, and the military is reportedly considering legal action, Yonhap said.
The cameras were not deployed for critical security functions, such as along the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas. Instead, they were used to monitor training groups and perimeter fences at military bases, according to the report.
South Korea’s defence ministry said it is in the process of replacing the foreign-made cameras but did not confirm their country of origin.
A trend of allegations against China
This is not China’s first rodeo with such allegations.
In March, a congressional investigation by the House Committee on Homeland Security and House select committee on China in the United States found that some Chinese-made cranes used at US ports contained communications equipment with no record of their installation or clear purpose, CNN reported.
The investigation had found that the cellular modems installed on the cranes can be used for remote communication.
In early 2023, Australia announced the removal of surveillance cameras made by Chinese-run from its defence and foreign ministries due to security concerns not unlike those that South Korea faced.
Just months before that, in November 2022, Britain had asked its government departments to stop installing Chinese-linked surveillance cameras at sensitive buildings, citing security risks.
With inputs from Reuters
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