Mobile phones will be graded on electro-wave

Regulation aims to appease users’ concerns

By Choi Kyong-ae

Handset manufacturers will have to indicate the degrees of electromagnetic waves emitted by smartphones from August next year after a one-year testing period, the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning said on Tuesday.

Korea will be the first country in the world to adopt such a rating system.

“The government made the decision to alleviate growing concerns among handset users about harmful risks of electromagnetic waves from mobile phones,” Park Jang-won, director of the ministry’s radio infrastructure team, told The Korea Times.

Under the revised Radio Waves Act, handset makers are obliged to mark one of four levels of “specific absorption rate (SAR)” on the product, packaging or brochure. SAR refers to a measure of the rate at which energy is absorbed by the body when exposed to electromagnetic waves.

“Handset companies will face penalties unless they follow the rule from the beginning of August next year,” said Park.

The director said in 2011 there was a study released by the World Health Organization that electromagnetic waves arising from cell phones may cause cancer, escalating concerns about the safety of handset use in Korea, one of the world’s most wired countries.

Korea had a smart-phone penetration rate of 70 percent to 80 percent, compared to the U.S.’ 50 percent as of June, NH Securities Lee Sun-tae said.

Jun Byung-hun, floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, proposed a bill in November 2011 to adopt the rating system and the offer was passed in Parliament in May 2012, according to his office in Yoido.

The introduction of the rating program in a country has been delayed because of complaints from a global handset player.

Apple, the U.S. archrival of Samsung Electronics, “indirectly took issue with the Korean government’s approach through a variety of routes” citing business environments in Korea are not favorable for foreign companies, said Park.

To iron out differences between them, working-level officials from Korea and the U.S. have been in talks since May last year and they reached an agreement, Park said without elaborating.

In Korea, Samsung Electronics is far ahead of Apple in sales of mobile phones accounting for more than 60 percent, compared to Apple’s 10 percent.

A Samsung official said that its advanced lineup such as the Galaxy S4 smartphone and the Galaxy Note II is already in the range of the first-grade radiation level which emits less than 0.8 watt of electromagnetic waves per kilogram.

Asked if it expects any impact from the rating system on their business performance, Samsung declined to comment. Apple Korea was not immediately available for comment.

Yun Moon-yong, vice-chief of staff in Jun’s office, said, “As excessive exposure to electromagnetic waves may have a negative impact particularly on pregnant women and children, we recommended them to shuttle the phone during conversation from the right cheek to the left or vice versa.”

The smartphone penetration rate among children ages of six to 19 tripled to 65 percent in 2012 from a year earlier, the Korea Communications Commission said.