Senior military officers wary of conscripts’ cellphone use: ministry

South Korean military officers have voiced caution over permitting new conscripts cellphones over security concerns, according to the Ministry of National Defense on Wednesday.

The ministry surveyed officers as a new policy taking effect in September is set to allow soldiers’ use of cellphones more widely.

In the survey released by the Defense Ministry, one officer said letting soldiers use cellphones has led to “disruptions in training while violations continue to occur.”

“Soldiers have been found using cellphones while on duty, and cellphone use is feared to be interfering with their performance,” the officer said.

Another officer cited instances of soldiers posting or sharing online content “that was deemed to benefit hostile forces, or otherwise in breach of security.”

According to the Defense Ministry, over the six-month trial period, more than a thousand soldiers faced penalties for violating rules on cellphone use.

More serious instances of violations by soldiers with their cellphones included accessing illegal gambling sites, acquiring sexual images of children on social media and disabling security applications without authorization.

The Defense Ministry relaxed the restrictions starting July 2020 to allow conscripts to use cellphones from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends and holidays.

From next month, they can use cellphones during their training period at the boot camp.

The ministry explained that expanding the use of cellphones for conscripts is part of efforts to improve their service conditions.