KC-EMC Certification

The Korean certification procedures of the new KC system are relatively standardised, even though there are still different authorities with different responsibilities. Any given procedure consists minimally of application and proof of product testing to Korean standards, and maximally of application, factory inspection, product testing in Korea, marking and annual (simplified) repetition of this procedure. However, the procedures for a large proportion of products tend to be at the simpler end of this spectrum.

South Korea often advertises the cheapest certification costs in Asia…. For the pure administrative steps this may be true, but please note that testing fees (be it from the product itself or from recognised existing test reports) can be comparatively high even compared to European conditions.

The “Korean Agency for Technology and Standards” (KATS) within the “Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy” (MOTIE) is responsible for the registration of your certification as well as the elaboration of the KC standards. It should be noted that KATS is a member of the International Standardisation Organisation (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), so that the Korean standards are largely in line with international standards.

For the certification area KC, certification can be carried out either at the “Korea Testing and Research Institute” (KTR), the “Korea Testing Laboratory” (KTL) or the organisation “Korea Testing Certification” (KTC). The South Korean authorities “National Radio Research Agency” (RRA) and the “Korean Communications Commission” (KCC) are responsible for all EMC-related certifications. The industrial safety certifications KCs and KOSHA, in turn, are carried out either by the “Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency” (KOSHA), the “Korea Gas Safety Corporation” (KGS), or again at the “Korea Testing Laboratory” (KTL).