From now on, military residential and welfare facilities such as military apartments and visitation centers, as well as military bases, will be able to use road names addresses. Until now, citing security and confidentiality, these facilities used post office P.O. boxes as their addresses and could not be found on navigation systems. As a result, there were criticisms that misdelivered parcels had increased.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) and the Ministry of National Defense said on the 13th that starting on the 17th they will implement a security guideline that sets out the method for assigning road names addresses to military facilities and the scope of information to be provided for map services.
The targets of this security guideline are military residential facilities such as military apartments; military welfare facilities such as visitation rooms, religious facilities, and sports facilities; military base garrisons; service academies; and military facilities such as military hospitals.
Until now, military bases had received parcels and mail using post office P.O. box addresses or road names addresses whose locations could not be confirmed on maps. Accordingly, users and the parcel industry raised criticisms that misdeliveries had increased. There were also concerns that military facilities were being unnecessarily exposed in the process of providing directions to receive parcels.
To address these issues, the Ministry of National Defense informed each service branch in Oct. last year that military bases could also use road names addresses. However, because detailed guidelines regarding the scope of location information were not prepared, there was confusion in use. Buildings outside bases, such as military apartments and visitation centers, also lacked clear standards for disclosing address information, limiting information provision and location guidance.
Accordingly, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) and the Ministry of National Defense standardized the operating guidelines for road names addresses of military facilities.
First, depending on the use of military facilities, the targets for assigning road names addresses are classified as military facilities, military residential facilities, and military welfare facilities. On-base and off-base will be defined by the fences and barbed-wire boundaries of military facilities.
On-base facilities will continue to be managed as security areas and kept closed to the public, but road names addresses will be assigned at access points to ensure no problems with parcel delivery. Following this, the locations can be checked on navigation systems and online maps.
Off-base military residential and welfare facilities will have their addresses and locations provided under the same standards as general civilian buildings.
Minister Yoon Ho-jung of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) said, "An address is an essential element of various economic activities and daily life, such as logistics delivery, commerce, and administrative services," adding, "We will strengthen cooperation with relevant ministries to prevent any blind spots in addressing."
Minister Ahn Gyu-baek of the Ministry of National Defense said, "With this measure, we expect to enhance the security of military facilities while making it more convenient for service members and their families to use parcel delivery services."