The South Korean military seeks to dispatch one medic each to all of the frontline outposts and establish a medical transportation unit to increase the chances of border troops surviving accidents, the Army said Sunday.

The move comes amid increasing calls to enhance the military medical system for border units. A shooting spree in a border unit in June brought to the fore the difficulties in offering swift medical support to remote bases near the inter-Korean border.

“When an emergency occurs in a general outpost, it is quite difficult to reach it and quickly offer medical treatment to the wounded due to tough terrain features,” said an Army official, requesting anonymity. “We will provide one medic to each frontline unit to more effectively handle the emergency situations.”

Currently, medics are dispatched only to company-level border units.

The military also plans to provide emergency rescuers, who are non-commissioned officers, to frontline company-level units by 2016, and to accelerate its efforts to launch the medical transportation unit.

The military plans to dispatch eight Korean utility helicopters to the envisioned unit. Equipped with basic medical devices, the Surion can carry six patients at the same time.

To offer better medical services to soldiers working in remote areas, the military plans to operate a telemedicine system round the clock.

Under the system, sick troops are to get medical treatment through smartphones or through a video calls with doctors, who will offer medical counseling after checking troops’ conditions through a digitalized diagnosis system.

Meanwhile, a private first class was found dead in an apparent suicide at a frontline unit in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Saturday. His body was found by his fellow soldiers, who started searching for him when he failed to appear for a meal.

The Army is investigating the exact cause of his death.

The incident came amid the military’s all-out campaign to stamp out abuses at barracks, which have been cited as major reasons for suicides and even a shooting spree.

The military has launched a panel to improve the military’s outmoded, rigid culture.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)