Messaging Soothes Army Parent Fears

The Korean Army has started to provide families of new recruits with updates on their members’ safety through instant text messaging services.

The military yesterday announced services that started last month at the military training center in Nonsan, Chungnam Province, and at the Third Battalion, which are provided once a week during the draft’s rookie training period.

The instant text messaging service was devised as a way to tell the safety and whereabouts of new recruits quickly and effectively to their families at a time when mobile phones have become commonplace.

As soon as a recruit sets foot in the training center, the commander, the captain, and the platoon leader take turns in messaging the parents with phrases such as, “Your son is going through training well, and is a trustworthy soldier who completed the march in a breeze.”

Lieutenant Sung Ki-il, commander of the Third Battalion’s new recruit training complex, said, “Once having sent a son to the army myself, I am pleased with the good response I have been receiving for starting the service.”

Sang-Ho Yun ysh1005@donga.com