South Korea blocks military VoIP

Beginning today, South Korea has banned U.S.-based VoIP services to all of the U.S. soldiers currently stationed there.

What this means is that they will now have to use a South Korean provider, like Hanaro Telecom Inc, Korea Telecom Corp., or LG Dacom Corp. In addition, soldiers will have to secure a local number in South Korea to make VoIP calls.

Russell Shaw had this to say,

This has come about after a June 2006 statement by some of South Korea’s major Internet service providers that they would block phone calls over the Internet over connections from providers not registered under the Korean Telecommunications Business Act. But after U.S. Forces Korea Commander General Burwell Baxter Bell said the move would impact service members’ quality of life, the companies agreed to delay enforcing the act until June 1, 2007.Now, I am going to control my anger here.

If it weren’t for our dedicated yet underpaid forces in South Korea, Kim Jung-Il and those maniacs in North Korea likely would have overran the south years ago. If that had happened, there wouldn’t be telcos such as Korea Telecom Corp., Hanaro Telecom Inc. as well as LG Dacom Corp. And the fat cats that run these companies might be in exile, or worse.