Korea EV Charger KC Certification: 500 kVA Scope Expansion

Korea Proposes 500 kVA KC Safety Confirmation Scope for Ultra-Fast EV Chargers

South Korea is moving to bring its fastest EV chargers inside the KC safety net. On 3 December 2025, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), acting through the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS), issued a legislative pre-announcement of a draft amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Electrical Appliances and Consumer Products Safety Control Act. The headline change for manufacturers: the rated-output ceiling for EV chargers managed as Safety Confirmation products would rise from 200 kVA to 500 kVA.

Regulatory background

KC certification under the Electrical Appliances and Consumer Products Safety Control Act is tiered by risk into three levels: Safety Certification (the strictest, with factory audits and periodic inspection), Safety Confirmation (product testing without routine factory audit), and Supplier's Declaration of Conformity. EV chargers have long been managed as Safety Confirmation–target electrical products, but only up to a rated output of 200 kVA.

That cap created a structural gap. As Korea pushed ultra-fast charging to keep pace with EV adoption, a new class of 350 kW and above chargers entered the market units that exceeded the 200 kVA scope and therefore had no applicable KC pathway at all. Higher-power, higher-risk equipment was paradoxically sitting outside mandatory safety management. KATS has worked the issue since 2021 through a consultative body and expert committee involving charger manufacturers, testing and certification bodies, and academia, with broad industry agreement on the need to widen the scope.

Technical scope of the proposed change

What the Korea EV charger KC certification update actually does

The draft amends the appendix (byeolpyo) of the Enforcement Rules so that EV chargers with a rated output up to 500 kVA fall within the Safety Confirmation regime. In practice this:

• Extends the upper bound of the Safety Confirmation scope for EV chargers from 200 kVA to 500 kVA, capturing today's ultra-fast (350 kW+) DC chargers and the 800 V-class platforms now entering the fleet.

• Creates a usable KC route for high power chargers that previously could not be certified, enabling formal safety verification (cooling systems, power-conversion units, cables, insulation, etc.).

• Restores procurement and subsidy eligibility products that can obtain KC can re-enter government procurement and subsidy backed deployment programs that effectively require it.

  
  

The measure is best read as market-enabling regulatory catch-up rather than a new burden on existing equipment: it opens a certification door that was previously shut for the highest-power chargers.

What this means for manufacturers

For OEMs, importers, and charge-point operators dealing with high-power DC equipment, the practical implications are significant — even at the proposal stage:

• Ultra-fast chargers gain a compliance path. If finalized, 350 kW+/200–500 kVA chargers will have a defined KC Safety Confirmation route instead of falling into a regulatory void. Makers that were blocked from the Korean market or from public tenders should plan to certify.

• Procurement and subsidy access hinges on KC. Where government procurement and subsidy programs require certified equipment, an unobtainable certification has been a hard commercial barrier. The amendment is designed to remove it for the 200–500 kVA band.

• Test readiness is the gating factor. Safety Confirmation relies on product testing (rather than factory audit), so the critical path is sample availability, test scheduling at a designated body, and documentation. Manufacturers should pre-stage test units and technical files now to avoid a queue when the rule takes effect.

• Existing ≤200 kVA models are unaffected in principle, but teams should confirm whether any model-registration or labeling housekeeping is triggered when the appendix is restructured.

• Importers should map the transition window. Until the effective date and any grace period are published, treat current rules as still in force and avoid assuming a 200–500 kVA charger can yet be placed on the market with KC.

  
  

Certification impact summary

Item	Current rule (in force)	Under the proposed amendment
Country / market	South Korea	South Korea
Regulator	MOTIE / KATS	MOTIE / KATS
Legal instrument	Enforcement Rules, Electrical Appliances and Consumer Products Safety Control Act	Same Rules, partial amendment (Notice No. 2025-0069)
Product	EV chargers	EV chargers (incl. ultra-fast 350 kW+)
KC tier	Safety Confirmation	Safety Confirmation (unchanged tier)
Rated-output ceiling	≤ 200 kVA	≤ 500 kVA
350 kW+ chargers	No applicable KC route	Eligible for KC Safety Confirmation
Procurement / subsidy	Effectively blocked for >200 kVA	Re-enabled for ≤500 kVA once certified
Conformity basis	Product testing at designated body	Product testing at designated body
Status	—	Pre-announcement / public comment (not yet enacted)
Effective date	—	To be confirmed — see editorial note

Timeline and required actions

1. 3 Dec 2025 — Legislative pre-announcement issued. MOTIE Notice No. 2025-0069 published under Article 41 of the Administrative Procedures Act.

   • Action: Log the proceeding and assign an internal owner for Korean market access.

2. Public-comment period (deadline TBC). Interested parties may file opinions with KATS / the Korean national legislative-participation portal.

   • Action: If the 200–500 kVA band affects your portfolio, prepare and submit comments; flag any test-capacity or transition-period concerns.

3. Regulatory and legislative review (TBC). Review by the Regulatory Reform Committee and the Ministry of Government Legislation, then Cabinet/promulgation steps.

   • Action: Track for substantive changes between draft and final text.

4. Promulgation and effective date (TBC); possible transition/grace period (TBC).

   • Action: Confirm the exact in-force date and whether a grace period applies to placing products on the market.

5. Certification execution (once in force).

   • Action: Book Safety Confirmation testing at a designated body (e.g., KTC), stage 200–500 kVA sample units, compile the technical file (couplers/cables, insulation, cooling, power conversion), and complete model registration before market placement or tender submission.