Korea has finalized the transition from MIC to KCC to KC.  Last Friday, July 1, 2011, was the effective date for final compliance with new labeling regulations from Korea’s Radio Research Agency (RRA).  The KCC mark is no longer permissible for use on electrical products to be sold in South Korea. 

As was discussed in a previous post, starting January 24, 2011, the KC (Korea Certification) mark replaced the KCC logo, with a transition time that ended Friday.  (See what the KC & KCC marks look like.)

The regulations detail new marking requirements, as covered by the Conformity Evaluation Marking system.

New Identifier
The new Marking’s identifier has up to 26 digits and follows this format: KCC-VWX-YYY-Z… where:

• “KCC” is always the same
• “V” is the certification category C (certification), R (registration), or I (interim)
• “W” is the testing category R (radio), T (wired telecom), E (electromagnetic), or M (multi)
• “X” is the applicant type M (manufacturer), I (importer), or S (seller)
• “YYY” is the 3-digit company code
• “Z…” is the 14-digit maximum product ID which is assigned by the applicant and composed of letters, numbers, or hyphens

There is no longer a class “A” or “B” marking requirement.

The logo should be indigo, or optionally, gold, silver or black, and should be over 5mm tall.

Besides the KC logo & Identifier, other related information (certificate holder, model number, manufactured date, manufacturer and country of origin) must be put on the device’s label and its packaging.

In case of a small device, the related information may be left off the device, with this information on the individual package acceptable.

For extremely small devices, the mark is affixed to the packaging only. 

Other Key Changes
Equipment utilizing KCC approved wireless modules may be exempt from additional wireless testing.

For equipment falling under the previous scope of Type Registration (KCC Wireless approval), KCC emissions & immunity EMC testing is required from July 1, 2011.

For equipment falling under the previous scope of Type Registration (KCC wireless approval) and EMC Registration (KCC EMC approval), KCC safety testing will be required from Jan 1, 2012.

See more about approvals for placing electrical products on the market in Korea.