By Jun Ji-hye
LG Uplus, the nation’s third-largest mobile carrier, will offer soldiers some 44,000 receive-only mobile phones for free, the Ministry of National Defense said Thursday.
The firm was chosen the previous day over SK Telecom and KT in bidding for a ministry project to provide phones to units. The ministry has earmarked some 3.6 billion won ($3 million) over three years.
LG Uplus, however, bid only 1 won to win the project, while SK Telecom tendered 2.1 billion won and KT 1.7 billion won.
An LG Uplus official, asking not to be named, said, “We decided to offer soldiers mobile phones for free as we were deeply impressed by those who postponed their discharge from the service while the nation experienced a crisis following the recent landmine explosions and shelling by North Korea.”
The official said LG Uplus Vice Chairman Lee Sang-chul, who previously worked at the Agency for Defense Development, pushed ahead with the decision. Lee’s elder brother is former Defense Minister Lee Sang-hoon.
The mobile phones are receive-only, so parents can call their sons at any time they want except for working hours and sleep times.
The ministry is planning to distribute mobile phones to border units first and extend the distribution to all units nationwide in stages by the end of the year.
The distribution is one of the ministry’s measures drawn up to improve the environment of barracks and prevent violations of human rights there following the death of a private first-class in April last year after being tortured by colleagues.
Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told a regular briefing, “LG Uplus also promised to support telephone repeater installation costs as well as utilization fees for three years.”
The total cost is estimated at 14.1 billion won, about four times the ministry’s appropriation.
“The mobile phones will play a role as a communication channel between parents and soldiers and help ease anxiety,” the ministry said in a statement.
On the morning of Aug. 4, North Korean-made wooden box antipersonnel landmines exploded inside the Demilitarized Zone, maiming two South Korean soldiers. The incident seriously raised tension on the Korean Peninsula, and about 88 soldiers asked their units to postpone their discharge until tensions were eased.
The two Koreas reconciled on Aug. 25 after four days of marathon talks.
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