This undated file photo, provided by the Navy, shows one of its frigates. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Mar. 12 (Korea Bizwire) – The Navy plans to conduct a trial program that will allow sailors to use mobile phones with internet connection while out at sea in an effort to improve their living conditions, officials said Tuesday.
The Navy currently restricts using mobile phones with such connection aboard warships due to security reasons, such as the devices possibly exposing their users’ location data and, in turn, those of the vessels they have boarded.
Under the trial program, sailors aboard an unidentified warship based in Changwon, 298 kilometers southeast of Seoul, will be able to use their phones connected to the internet via a commercial low Earth orbit satellite, according to the Navy officials.
The sailors will be required to install a security application on their phones that will disable their cameras and Global Positioning System services, but they are expected to be able to make phone calls and access the internet while on missions at sea.
The Navy plans to sign a contract for the trial program in April, which will run for around four months. It will decide whether to expand the service after reviewing the results of the trial program expected to cost about 450 million won (US$343,000).
The move comes as the Navy seeks to improve warship living conditions to boost its conscript enlistment rate that dropped from 100.5 percent in 2020 to 70.1 percent in 2022, compared with the military’s overall rate declining from 96.9 percent to 84.7 percent over the same period.
Observers have pointed to the Navy’s restrictive living conditions for its unpopularity, compared with other military branches, which typically allow conscripted personnel to use their phones after working hours.
“If low-orbit commercial satellites are used, operational security is expected to be kept to a certain extent,” a Navy official said. “The most important part is whether the warship’s location could be exposed, and this trial program will test that.”
(Yonhap)
