The South Korean defense ministry is contemplating giving longer free evening time to soldiers as part of efforts to reform a rigid and outdated military culture, military officials said Sunday.

According to the plan, free time for soldiers will be extended to four hours from the 1 1/2 hours they receive on average, according to the officials. Currently, the amount of spare time for soldiers is not fixed and depends largely on their unit.

"We are going over measures to give the soldiers four hours from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. during which they can take their meals, wash up and clean their barracks on their own without the presence of a duty officer," an official said.

The idea is to create a kind of routine similar to that of a regular worker outside of the military so that soldiers can also "leave the office" and get off work, the official added.

In addition, the defense ministry is also mulling assigning one soldier per living compound chosen through voting to supervise the group during those free hours. The selected soldiers will be in charge of nightly roll calls, although bed checks will still be carried out by duty officers.

The latest plan is one in a series of reform measures put out by the defense ministry following several deadly incidents of bullying and violent practices among enlistees.

Earlier in April last year, an Army private first class died after suffering from persistent physical and mental abuse by his senior comrades. About two months later, an Army sergeant went on a shooting spree in a separate incident, killing five, after allegedly being bullied by his colleagues.

In a country facing North Korea across a heavily secured border, all able-bodied South Korean men are sent to compulsory military service for about two years. Conscripts mostly in their early 20s account for a large portion of the country's 650,000-member military. (Yonhap)