PYEONGTAEK, South Korea — The Army has installed new high-tech entry gates at posts in Seoul and Daegu, but a software coding problem is delaying their use.

Officials hope to have the coding problem fixed within two weeks.

The booth-like structures are called PODs and help reduce the need for guards.

One was set up at Gate 19 near the 121st Combat Support Hospital on Yongsan Garrison and another in Daegu at Camp George’s Gate 10.

The coding problem hinders linking some of the PODs’ security gadgetry with a U.S. Forces Korea computer database, said Victor M. Lowe, director of emergency services with the U.S. Army Garrison-Daegu.

"The only issue holding up the use of the POD at this time is that programming code deficiency, which was not identified until after the system was already installed," said garrison spokesman Ronald D. Inman.

At Yongsan, six more PODs are to be set up, officials said.

Four more are planned within Daegu garrison: at Camp Walker’s Gate 6, Camp Henry’s Gate 1 and Camp Carroll’s gates 1 and 4, Inman said.

The PODs rely on ID card swipes and electronic fingerprint readings, and military police monitor them 24 hours a day over closed-circuit TV, Lowe said. Police also can talk to pedestrians via a speaker system.

"So even though there’s not a person physically in the POD, it’s constantly monitored," said Inman, and police can get to the POD if intervention is needed.

Users must have their ID cards and fingerprints registered in the U.S. military’s Defense Biometric Identification System, known as D-BIDS.

When a user swipes an ID, the first door opens, then closes behind the user and locks; the person then places a finger on the electronic fingerprint reader, and a valid match opens the second, letting the person into the installation, Lowe said.

The entry process takes about 12 to 15 seconds, and the equipment is geared to let only one person through at a time.

However, for those with strollers or small children, police can override the system if proper ID is shown.