2026 South Korea: An overview of the conformity assessment procedures

In the European Union, market access is dominated by the conformity assessment procedure of "internal production control". This procedure ultimately leads to the issuing of the EU Declaration of Conformity (EU DoC) by the manufacturer and the affixing of the CE marking.

In contrast to traditional certification procedures and state registration obligations, such a self-declaration procedure (SDoC procedure for short) has many advantages. It is primarily characterized by a high degree of flexibility. For this reason, manufacturers have an interest in being able to integrate their product into such a liberal procedure.

The Republic of Korea, hereinafter referred to as South Korea, has introduced such an SDoC procedure in the various product conformity areas within the last decade. Which product types in the area of radio and EMC approval and product and machine safety approval may make use of such an SDoC procedure is explained below.

Product safety

Products that fall within the scope of the law on the safety management of electrical appliances and household products are divided into the various conformity assessment procedures. The level of risk influences the extent to which third-party bodies are involved. The "safety certification" has the highest proportion of third-party involvement and the "supplier's declaration of conformity" the lowest.

• "Safety certification" refers to the certification of the safety of a product following its testing and an inspection of the production site.
• "Safety verification" means the verification that a product complies with safety standards, based on a safety test carried out by a competent testing laboratory.
• "Supplier's declaration of conformity" means a declaration by a supplier that one of its products complies with the safety standards. This declaration is made on the basis of a voluntary test of the product by the supplier himself or by a third party commissioned by him.

The product types are assigned in the tabular annexes to the implementing provisions of the Act on the Safety Management of Electrical Appliances and Household Appliances, e.g. Annex 5. Products for which a "Supplier's Declaration of Conformity" is possible include, for example, electrical appliances such as infrared/ultraviolet skin care devices or DC-powered electric heating pads and foot warmers, DC-powered power tools, and audio and video equipment such as video cameras or radio receivers and (!) other similar devices.

Machinery

The regulatory framework for machinery in South Korea is largely comparable to the provisions that apply to high-risk machinery listed in Annex IV of the EU Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC and Annex I of the new Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230. According to the Korean Occupational Safety and Health Act (KOSHA), certain types of machinery are classified as "hazardous machinery" and are subject to mandatory conformity assessment procedures.

These include:

Type 1: Certificate of Conformity (CoC), which requires a manufacturing site inspection by an approved certification body - functionally comparable to EU modules B + C1 or B + D.

Type 2: Declaration of Conformity (DoC), which is based on a self-assessment by the manufacturer. However, this requires a prior technical assessment and registration with the competent authority. It is comparable to Module A, supplemented by national supervision.

Machinery that does not fall into the category of dangerous machinery can undergo voluntary safety certification under the S-Mark system.

In contrast to the EU, where machinery regulations may also apply to products intended for end users, the Korean regulatory framework focuses primarily on industrial machinery. Machinery intended for the end user is typically regulated by the Electrical Appliance and Consumer Product Safety Control Act. They require certification under the general KC Mark system rather than the KCs Mark, which is reserved for machinery subject to occupational health and safety.
 

In accordance with Article 77 of the Implementing Regulation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act and Annex 2 of the Notice on Procedures for Safety Certification and Own Safety Inspection Reports, the self-declaration covers products such as industrial robots, conveyor systems and kitchen machines.

Radio and EMC

The Korean Radio Wave Act covers radio transmitters, radio receivers and transceivers, as well as electronic products that emit unintentional electromagnetic waves that could interfere with other products (= electromagnetic compatibility, EMC).

There are four different conformity assessment procedures:

• Certification of conformity
• Registration of conformity
• (New) self-conformity declaration
• Interim certification of conformity

In a tabular annex to the Communication on Conformity Assessment of Radio and Telecommunications Equipment (Annex 1), product types are linked to a specific conformity assessment procedure, e.g:

EMC (for non-sparking products):

• Digital CATV set-top boxes --> Certificate of Conformity
• IP cameras --> Registration of conformity
• Electrical kitchen appliances --> Self-declaration of conformity

Radio products:

• Wireless devices for wireless data transmission systems --> Certificate of conformity
• Wireless Low Power Devices (LPD) --> Registration of Conformity
• Broadcast receivers (TVR11) --> Declaration of conformity

The marking method for the various conformity assessment procedures for radio, EMC and product safety approval can be found in the Implementing Ordinance to the Framework Act on National Standards (Annex 6).

This approval mark is linked, for example, to the "Safety Certification", "Declaration of Safety Confirmation", "Confirmation of Supplier Conformity", and household goods that are subject to safety standards, but also to the conformity assessment procedures for radio and EMC approval.

Do you have questions about specific details of the conformity assessment procedures? We will be happy to provide you with further support. Simply send us an e-mail with your question or use our contact form.

Author's note

This article has been machine translated into English.
 

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS NEWS ITEM

→ Implementing provisions of the Act on the Safety Management of Electrical Appliances and Household Appliances
       for example Annex 5
→ Implementing Regulation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act
→ Notice on Procedures for Safety Certification and Own Safety Inspection Reports
→ Communication on Conformity Assessment of Radio and Telecommunications Equipment  (Annex 1)
→ Implementing Ordinance to the Framework Act on National Standards (Annex 6)

TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

EMC = Electromagnetic compatibility

Published on 05.06.2026
Category: Product Compliance, EMC
We would like to thank Daniel Bernard from unsplash
 

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