S. Korean military takes down over 1,300 Chinese-made surveillance cameras

Seoul, Sep 13 : The South Korean military has recently taken down more than 1,300 surveillance cameras installed at various bases, including those near the border with North Korea, after discovering they were Chinese-made equipment, a military official said Friday.

In late July, military and intelligence authorities found out the surveillance cameras supplied by a South Korean company were produced in China during military equipment examinations, Yonhap news agency reported, citing the official.

The military has uninstalled all of the equipment in question and is replacing it with domestic equipment due to security concerns. Currently, about 100 of them have been newly installed.

"The CCTVs at issue were found to be designed to be able to transmit recorded footage externally by connecting to a specific Chinese server," the official said. "No data has actually been leaked."

The official said the surveillance cameras were not used to monitor the border with North Korea but for military training grounds and base fences.

The company that supplied the cameras is suspected to have falsified the equipment's country of origin, and the military is considering taking legal action against it.