iPhone may be banned for South Korean military personnel

In response to growing concerns about possible breaches of sensitive information, South Korea’s military is contemplating a comprehensive ban on iPhones within its installations.

Multiple military sources, speaking anonymously to The Korea Herald, revealed that Air Force headquarters distributed an internal memo via military intranet server on April 11, proposing a complete ban on devices capable of voice recording and lacking application control. from third-party sources regarding built-in functions, with iPhones specifically singled out for prohibition.

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iPhone ban

• The decision to ban iPhones reportedly came from joint meetings called by the headquarters of the Army, Navy and Air Force, located in Gyeryongdae, in South Chungcheong province.
• The directive emphasizes the need to avoid any form of voice recording, covering both formal and informal communications within military buildings, from official meetings to personal telephone conversations.
• The potential ban extends beyond Gyeryongdae to subordinate units across the country.
• While Android-based smartphones, especially devices from South Korean Samsung Electronics, are about to be exempted from the ban, iPhones face a complete ban.
• Approximately 10,000 military personnel, including 6,000 officers, are deployed in Gyeryongdae alone, with approximately 500,000 military personnel nationwide potentially impacted if the ban expands to all subordinate units.

Preference for Samsung

The preference for Samsung’s Galaxy series over iPhones within the military is attributed to the failure of iPhones to fully comply with restrictions imposed by National Defense Mobile Security, a mobile device management application. The app, which restricts various smartphone functions when activated, does not control the inherent features of iPhones other than the camera.

Discussions about banning iPhones gained momentum after SK Telecom introduced a call recording feature for iPhones in September last year, which raised concerns about information security. Unlike iPhones, Samsung phones continue to be preferred by many due to their call recording capabilities.