Due to security concerns, Chinese-made surveillance cameras have faced boycotts from multiple countries. These cameras have been widely installed not only in front-line units and public spaces in South Korea but also in police departments dedicated to capturing industrial spies, raising security concerns in South Korea.
On September 4, Park Jeonghyeon, a Democratic Party member of the South Korean National Assembly’s Administrative Security Committee, conducted an analysis of the “Current Status Data of CCTV Cameras in the Police Department and Municipal Police Departments” submitted by the Police Headquarters. The results revealed that at least 760 Chinese-made CCTVs have been installed in police departments, including the Police Headquarters, the Central Police Academy, and 18 municipal police departments.
The police department with the highest number of Chinese-made CCTVs installed is the Southern Police Department of Gyeonggi, with a total of 117 cameras. Even the office of the Industrial Technology Security and Investigation Team responsible for capturing industrial spies at the Southern Gyeonggi Department has Chinese-made CCTVs installed. The Southern Gyeonggi Department recently captured a suspect who leaked semiconductor technology to China.
In the Gwangju Police Department, the Security Investigation Team responsible for investigating spies and traitors also uses Chinese-made CCTVs.
Park Jeonghyeon pointed out that the installation of so many Chinese-made CCTVs in just the police headquarters and municipal police departments indicates that there are likely “thousands” of Chinese-made CCTVs installed in frontline police stations. The parliament plans to support the police in replacing these vulnerable Chinese-made CCTVs with South Korean-made ones to address concerns over hacking and intelligence leaks.
Not only the police but also recently, over 1,300 CCTVs installed in forward units of the South Korean military were identified as Chinese-made.
In mid-September, the South Korean military announced that during a joint inspection with the intelligence unit at the end of July, they discovered that over 1,300 CCTV units installed in front-line units were not domestically produced but were Chinese-made products. Subsequently, the existing monitoring systems were dismantled and are in the process of being reinstalled.
According to a military official, the dismantled surveillance systems were designed to connect to specific servers in China, posing a risk of leaked footage. However, no actual intelligence leakage has been reported. The military’s removed monitoring systems were primarily used to monitor training grounds and unit perimeters, not non-military zones like the DMZ.
The military stated that these Chinese products were supplied to them falsely labelled as Korean-made, and they plan to seek compensation from the supplier.
Last year, South Korea discovered malicious code in Chinese-made equipment for the first time. It was found in observation equipment imported from China by the South Korean Meteorological Administration last year.
South Korean news agency newsis reported that a survey conducted by the National Intelligence Service last year revealed that over 32,000 Chinese-made IT equipment items from sanctioned Chinese companies were being used in over 8,500 public institutions in South Korea. Weaknesses that could be exploited in hacking attacks were confirmed in some weather observation equipment and CCTVs. Despite informing relevant agencies and recommending measures such as using South Korean products or replacing vulnerable components, a year later, no follow-up actions have been taken by agencies led by the Ministry of Unification.
Regarding the widespread use of Chinese-made CCTVs in government institutions such as the South Korean military and police, Han Mino, former Director of the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism and representative of the Confucius Institute Truth Propaganda Headquarters, stated to Epoch Times on October 5 that this is a very serious and unacceptable issue, showing deep penetration of the Chinese Communist Party into the South Korean government.
“This shows that relevant officials are too lax about national security and should be investigated, held accountable, and disciplined,” he emphasized.
In addition to CCTV cameras, another type of surveillance camera made in China – IP cameras – has recently sparked controversy in South Korea due to security issues.
Recently, reports from the South Korean magazine “Weekly Chosun” confirmed that videos of South Koreans’ private lives, filmed by hacked Chinese-made IP cameras, are circulating widely on pornographic websites in China.
These videos come from cameras installed in spaces frequented by South Koreans, such as Pilates studios, indoor cafes, maternity delivery rooms, clothing stores, skin massage parlors, and swimming pools, where individuals expose their bodies as part of their daily activities.
Currently, the South Korean police are conducting an internal investigation into the hacking of Chinese-made IP cameras.
In South Korea, Chinese-made IP cameras are often mistaken for CCTV cameras, leading to unwitting exposure of individuals to these risks without their knowledge. IP cameras are widely used in South Korea for monitoring homes, businesses, and public facilities, with 80% of them being Chinese-made.
In February last year, a famous plastic surgery hospital in Seoul was also exposed for leaking 31 videos, including patients undressing, which led to the illegal dissemination of videos of famous South Korean celebrities on Chinese pornographic websites. The cameras used in that hospital were all Chinese-made products.
Regarding the dissemination of images captured by Chinese-made IP cameras used by the general public in South Korea through Chinese pornographic websites, Member of the People Power Party Ahn Cheol-soo stated on Facebook on October 2 that strong measures should be taken from a national perspective to address this thoroughly.
Most users are unaware that, “as long as you know the IP address and manufacturer information, it takes less than a minute for hackers to break in. Not only IP cameras, but also imaging and communication devices connected through networks such as AI speakers face similar risks.” Ahn Cheol-soo, founder of the computer antivirus software company AhnLab, is a pioneer in global computer virus research.
He also underscored the importance of comprehensive measures in national security to enhance asymmetrical combat capabilities in network defense.
Chinese surveillance cameras, including those from “Hikvision,” have been boycotted by multiple countries due to security concerns.
In February 2023, following the announcement by the Australian Department of Defense to remove Chinese-manufactured surveillance cameras, the Australian government declared that these products would also be removed from political offices.
“Hikvision” and multiple Chinese commercial companies were listed by the US Federal Communications Commission in 2021 as “communications equipment and services that pose threats to US national security” and are prohibited from use in US telecommunications networks.
Furthermore, in November 2022, the UK government requested all government departments to halt the installation of “Hikvision” and other Chinese-made surveillance cameras in sensitive buildings.
Not only IP cameras, but Chinese-made robotic vacuum cleaners also pose security concerns in South Korea.
In August, security researchers warned that robotic vacuum cleaners manufactured by the Chinese company Ecovacs have a series of security flaws that could allow hackers to monitor their owners through the device’s microphone and camera.
Statistics released by market research firms show that in the first half of this year, a Chinese brand dominated the robotic vacuum cleaner market in South Korea, with an 80% market share when accounting for several other Chinese robotic vacuum cleaner brands.