Personnel working for South Korea's defence ministry have been ordered to paralyse the video and audio recording options from their respective smartphones in a bid to thwart possible leakages of insider military conversations and information to the outside public.

On Monday, South Korea's defence ministry said the personnel's smartphones gadgets may only be allowed brought inside the ministry's offices provided the employees install the "Mobile Management Device," an app that disables camera and voice recording options. Essentially, regardless if the employee's smartphone is the latest or top of the line, the app makes is mundane as it will only allow basic functions, which are just making calls and sending texts.

"We've developed a system to restrict the core functions of smartphones because of concerns that our work could be leaked through them," Kim Min-Seok, ministry spokesman, said, noting the app likewise stops outsiders from hacking into the devices of the defence ministry.

Specifically, Samsung Galaxy and other Android phone users can receive and make calls and text messages. iPhone users, however, can only receive calls and text messages.

However, the downside is that even visitors to the defence ministry's offices will likewise be asked to install the app, something which most potentially will not sit well with people who don't have daily transactions or negotiations with the ministry.

In fact, reports have circulated that some employees had refused to install the app due to concerns about privacy.

The "Mobile Management Device" app, which currently works within the ministry's compound, will later be ordered installed in the smartphones of all South Korean soldiers regardless of area of deployment.