[News Today] NO EXPANSION ON TROOP PHONE USE

[LEAD]
The Ministry of National Defense will not extend the current 'after-hours' mobile phone usage for soldiers. This decision follows a pilot operation from 2021 to last year. It marks a failure to achieve the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's policy goal to "expand mobile phone access times" for soldiers.

[REPORT]
The defense ministry has decided to keep the current policy of mobile phone use for soldiers only after work.

Rank and file troops can currently use their phones from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends.

This means expanding soldiers' phone use, a policy pledge by the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, has been effectively scrapped.

Jeon Ha-kyu / Spokesperson, Defense Ministry
The decision, made after 3 pilot runs, is to ensure that troops focus on their duties.

However, some regulations will be eased including allowing trainee soldiers to use their phones for an hour on weekends and holidays. Soldiers who are patients can also access their phone all day during the period of hospitalization.

In the latest decision, the defense ministry took into account the number of violations remaining steady even though penalties were ramped up when all-day phone use was allowed during last year's third trial run.

It also said that violations of a more serious nature such as concerning security and illegal gambling were also continuously detected.

However, a comparison of the before and after of the third trial offers differing perspectives.

The number of violations dropped for all other military branches except the army even when daily phone use time rose by more than four fold.

Especially, breaches at the air force were sharply down by 35%.

Also, the more sensitive infractions relating to security and illegal gambling remained at a similar level or trended downward in the past 3 years.

The military cited serious violations during the trial period such as phone use during patrols and night shifts. But critics say the military only accentuates isolated cases in order to prevent change.

Kim Hyung-nam / Center for Military Human Rights
It's a policy u-turn to discard the measure because some deviant behavior was detected during patrols and night shifts.

The Defense Ministry will apply the revised rules from September 1.