The cameras, supplied by a South Korean company, "are designed to be able to transmit recorded footage outside by connecting to a specific Chinese server," an unnamed military official said.

South Korean intelligence agencies discovered the cameras' Chinese origin in July during an inspection of military equipment, Yonhap news agency reported.

While some cameras are located near the border with North Korea, they do not monitor the border itself, but instead focus on training bases and fences, the official said. They added that no data has been leaked.

According to Yonhap, about 100 cameras have been replaced with equipment made in South Korea.

The Chinese manufacturer supplying the equipment used at South Korean military bases was not named, but according to Yonhap, the military is considering legal action against the supplier on suspicion of falsifying documents about the origin of the cameras.

Two Chinese video surveillance equipment makers, Dahua and Hikvision, were blacklisted by the US government under President Donald Trump in 2019.

The UK has also banned Hikvision cameras from some sensitive state sites, while in February last year Australia began removing hundreds of Hikvision and Dahua camera products from its government buildings.

Despite this, an investigation in May found that a large number of European countries still rely on cheap Dahua and Hikvision security cameras, even in sensitive locations such as military bases and police headquarters.

Ngoc Anh (according to Business Insider)