Police Launch Investigation Into Suspected Delivery of Chinese-Made Equipment for 19.4 Billion Won Bodycam Project

Police have launched a forced investigation into suspicions that Chinese-made equipment was supplied for a police bodycam project budgeted at around 19 billion won intended to strengthen security, according to reports.

According to the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency today (September 9), the Anti-Terrorism and Counter-Espionage Investigation Division is investigating Company A, a terminal supplier that provided bodycams to the Korean National Police Agency, and KT, which was in charge of establishing the communication network, on charges including fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes and obstruction of official duties by fraudulent means.

The companies formed a consortium last year and were selected as the providers for the police bodycam introduction project.

This project was pushed forward to replace bodycams that frontline police officers previously purchased out of pocket with official equipment, with a total of 19.486 billion won scheduled to be invested through 2029.

Through this project last year, the police distributed approximately 14,000 bodycams to the field.

A bodycam is a mobile camera attached to the body to record scenes, and the captured footage is transmitted to the National Information Resources Service via wireless repeaters.

In last year's bidding notice, the police explicitly excluded Chinese-made terminals from the bidding targets to prevent security issues such as hacking of commercial products or tampering and forgery of footage.

This was because security was paramount, as the captured footage is transmitted directly to the National Information Resources Service.

In response, the supplier reportedly explained that it would supply the products through an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) method at a factory in Taiwan.

However, the police recently received a tip from a company that lost the vendor selection process claiming that "the supplied bodycam is similar in function and appearance to products from a Chinese company," leading the police to launch an investigation after verifying the claim.

The police conducted searches and seizures at KT and Company A to secure relevant materials and are currently questioning related individuals.

They have requested an appraisal from a specialized institution to determine whether the supplied bodycams and the Chinese products are identical.

Company A reportedly denied the allegations during police questioning, maintaining that it "supplied OEM products made in Taiwan."

(Photo provided by Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.