The number of soldiers and officers who gamble online in the barracks has soared more than 15 times over the past two years, prompting the military to come up with a set of measures to tackle the problem, military officials said Sunday.

A total of some 230 enlisted troops and low-rank officers have been detected for having logged onto online gambling sites on base this year, up sharply from 18 last year and 15 in 2011, according to the officials.

Given the uptrend, the figure is expected to rise further by the end of this year.

Most of the gambling soldiers were found to have had access to online gambling sites through on-base computers set up to help soldiers and officers get certificates of qualification or get credits from colleges and universities, a defense ministry official said.

“The ministry will take strict measures to prevent soldiers and officers from accessing gambling and pornographic Internet sites in the barracks,” the official said.

Last week, the ministry unveiled a set of measures that call for tougher punishment against soldiers and officers who are found to have logged onto those sites. (Yonhap News)