The defense ministry on Tuesday issued guidelines on the use of social media by soldiers, with an emphasis on protecting the military’s confidential information.

The ministry said in a statement the increase in smartphone ownership and the subsequent rise in use of social networking services prompted the publication of the guidelines.

“Our guidelines are designed to help troops in their use of SNS so that they won’t violate military security policies and adversely affect military discipline,” the ministry said.

The guidelines will be distributed among all company-sized units, the military said.

For instance, soldiers will be advised not to disclose details about their military units and other information related to their service. If they have smartphones, soldiers will also be advised to turn off the location tracking functions.

Soldiers should also refrain from expressing a particular political stance on SNS, according to the guidelines.

The ministry also plans to publish these points in e-books and use them for education sessions later. (Yonhap News)