In 2016 I blew the whistle on Chinese cameras at our embassy in Kabul and at US bases (see for example https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/09/us_kabul_embassy_buying_chinese_security_cameras.html). My report was picked up by VOA and led to banning these cameras, which have an internet backdoor enabling China to see what the cameras were seeing and hearing (as many also had microphones). Unfortunately, despite an executive order, not all were removed from US military bases and sensitive installations, not to mention government agencies. I will bet many are still there. Now, 8 years later, the South Koreans are waking up.
Here you can find a video and transcript from 2018.
Story below from Yonhap News Agency:
Korean Military takes down over 1,300 Chinese-made surveillance cameras at units
• September 12 at 9:41 PM
SEOUL, Sept. 13 (Yonhap) -- The 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, according to 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.
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20240913003000315
This is just the start. Between the china-spyware and the Hezbollah pager fiasco, any self respecting country will need to start producing its own communication and surveillance equipment.
I hope all NATO countries and allies will now ban all equipment compromised by any Chinese involvement in components or production.
Oh... hang on... that would be economic suicide.