Regarding the standards and test items for South Korea's KC Safety Certification, I have integrated the latest information for you as of 2025, including new changes in areas like network security and energy efficiency requirements. The table below summarizes the core certification standards and items to help you quickly grasp the overall picture.

KC Safety Certification Standards and Items:

  In-Depth Look at KC Safety Test Items:

Beyond the core items in the table, KC certification includes a series of more detailed tests to ensure product safety under various scenarios.

1.Safety Performance Testing: This is the foundation of certification, primarily evaluating product safety under normal use and single fault conditions.

·Electrical Safety: Detects insulation resistance, clearances, and creepage distances to prevent electric shock or electrical fires; also checks grounding measures and overload protection functions.

·Mechanical Safety: Assesses products for sharp edges, burrs, and whether moving parts (e.g., doors, hinges) could cause pinching or other physical injuries during movement.

·Thermal Safety: Checks if the product generates excessive heat during normal operation or under fault conditions, leading to user burns or fires, and evaluates the effectiveness of its thermal protection devices.

2.Environmental Adaptability Testing: This part assesses the product's durability and performance retention capability in specific environments.

·Weather Resistance: Simulates product usage under extreme climate conditions like high temperature, low temperature, high humidity, detecting whether materials soften, deform, or performance degrades.

·Chemical & Salt Spray Resistance: Evaluates the product surface's resistance to common chemicals like acids, alkalis, solvents, and its corrosion resistance to high salt spray environments like coastal areas.

3.Chemical Hazardous Substance Testing: Focuses on the content of harmful substances in products, especially those in direct contact with the human body or potentially polluting the environment.

·Heavy Metal Testing: Strictly limits the content of heavy metals like lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium.

·Organic Pollutant Testing: Assesses whether harmful organic chemicals like PAHs (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons), PBBs (Polybrominated Biphenyls) are present.

2025 Important New Regulations & Reminders:

Beyond conventional test standards, pay special attention to some new regulations and specific product requirements implemented in 2025.

1.Network Security as a New Focus: According to new regulations, smart devices with networking functions like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth (e.g., IoT devices) may need to additionally provide a Network Security Compliance Declaration and require penetration testing when applying for KC certification.

2.Upgraded Energy Efficiency & Environmental Requirements: Starting 2025, energy efficiency standards for some products (e.g., wireless charging devices, commercial displays) have been raised, and standby power consumption limits have been added. Simultaneously, for lithium battery products, their heavy metal content must comply with RoHS environmental standards, and labels must be annotated in Korean.

3.Updated Marking & Document Requirements:

·Product Marking: The KC mark must be affixed on the product (format: `KC:XXXX-XXXXX`), with a font height **not less than 5 mm.

·Document Requirements: Some high-energy-consumption products (e.g., large appliances) may be required to submit a Carbon Footprint Assessment Report.

·Specific Product Supplementary Requirements:

·Toys & Children's Products: Must meet special standards for mechanical & physical safety (e.g., small parts, sharp edges/points testing), chemical safety (e.g., heavy metal migration, phthalate limits), and electrical safety (for electric toys).

·Wireless Devices: If the product has wireless functions (e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth), in addition to KC safety certification, KCC radio certification in South Korea must also be added.

Optimization Strategies for KC Certification:

1.Utilize International Reports to Simplify the Process: If your product has already passed the internationally recognized CB Certification, you can present the CB certificate and test report to the KC certification body. This may reduce approximately 30%-50% of duplicate test items, significantly lowering costs and shortening the timeline.

2.Monitor Regulatory Developments and Prepare in Advance: The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) is promoting the revision of safety standards for 23 categories of electrical appliances and plans to reform the product certification numbering system. It is recommended to continuously monitor the final release status via the KATS website or authorized bodies to adjust product design promptly.

We hope this overview of KC Safety Certification standards and items helps you better plan and execute product certification. If you can share more specific product types (e.g., home appliances, lamps, or IT equipment), BLUEASIA Tech: 13632500972 will provide professional certification consulting services!