Security Controversy

LG U+’s purchase of Huawei telecoms equipment is creating a security controversy.
LG U+’s purchase of Huawei telecoms equipment is creating a security controversy.

 

LG U+ announced on December 8 that it would inspect the security of Huawei’s telecom equipment, which it is going to import, with domestic and international organizations. The announcement is to alleviate the concerns of the US government and some Korean Senators who have said that the base station equipment could put the ROK-US alliance on danger. 

Until recently, LG U+ claimed that its telecom network is totally separated from external Internet networks, and no backdoor software can be installed secretly because it runs and manages the network itself. “We will keep using the non-Huawei equipment we have when it comes to the Evolved Packet Core equipment for subscriber information management, packet data exchange and the like, while introducing Huawei’s equipment only for base station equipment for EPC-terminal traffic transmission, which means information leakage via Huawei’s apparatuses is not possible at all,” it said. The international certification it is planning on will alleviate the security concerns of many. 

Earlier on December 6, LG U+ Vice Chairman Lee Sang-chul remarked, “I am not sure whether what the Senators are worried about is technological, political, or diplomatic matters, but I would like to stress that there is no problem at all if it is a technological one.” He went on, “A lot of countries, including Canada, Australia, Spain, Britain, and Japan are already using the same base station equipment as those manufactured by Huawei, just like SK Telecom and KT do, and I don’t understand why the US government is calling only us into question.”

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