A U.S. official said the United States is urging South Korea's LG Uplus and other telecom operators that use Huawei products to switch to "trusted vendors."

The U.S. State Department said in a transcript on Wednesday that Robert Strayer, deputy assistant secretary of state for cyber and international communications and information policy, made the remark the previous day during a video conference with reporters.

The remarks came in response to a reporter asking whether the U.S. plans to provide incentives should the South Korean company decide to stop using equipment made by the Chinese telecom giant.

Strayer said that the U.S. views this as a "serious safety issue" and urges companies like LG UPlus to move away from unapproved vendors to trusted vendors.

The official said in terms of incentives, the U.S. is probably not going to provide any financial motivation for companies to make the change. 

He rejected the notion that it would be too expensive to change equipment, saying it is actually in their best financial interest to move as quickly as possible to trusted suppliers.