South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT said Thursday it has revoked approvals for around 1,700 pieces of network equipment and communications devices manufactured by a nearly 400 companies, including China’s Huawei and Korea’s Samsung Electronics.

The decision affected a total of 1,696 pieces of equipment from 378 companies that were found to have test records certified by an entity not approved by the Korean government.

Under the country’s radio wave law, communications equipment need to undergo conformity assessments that evaluate their impact on other equipment and the human body, in order to manufacture, sell or import them.

The ministry said that companies had submitted test reports that appeared to have been issued by the US office of the global testing and certification organization Bay Area Compliance Laboratories but were in fact from its Chinese offices.

Korea only acknowledges test results from the US-based BACL through an agreement with the United States, and does not recognize tests by the organization’s Chinese offices, the ministry said.

The products include Huawei’s Long Term Evolution network equipment that were supplied to Korean mobile carrier LG U+ and Samsung’s wireless speakers.

Others are closed circuit TV camera maker Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology and drone maker SZ DJI Technology from China.

The ministry embarked on its investigation last year, and held a public hearing that was attended by officials from the relevant firms in November. In the hearing, the companies argued the problem was caused by a lack of understanding of the rules and they never intended to, or tried to, fabricate test records.

Following the withdrawal, the companies have been told to prove conformity of the products already sold to their customers, while recalling unsold products.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)