Four American service members and a family member of an American worker for the US military tested positive for the new coronavirus upon arrival here from the United States, US Forces Korea (USFK) said Thursday. One of the service members arrived at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on a US government-chartered flight, and three service members and a USFK contractor's family member arrived on international commercial flights at Incheon International Airport, west of Seo

Three soldiers and a civilian worker for the Army tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said, the latest in a series of confirmed cases across the country amid a new wave of the pandemic. Two soldiers -- one in the central city of Nonsan and the other in the border city of Paju -- tested positive while being in isolation after recently joining the military, according to the ministry. The remaining soldier in Siheung, south of Seoul, and a civilian worker in the eastern

South and North Korean military authorities held a daily phone call via a military hotline on Wednesday, the defense ministry said, a day after the North restored all severed communication lines with the South. "The South and the North held their daily liaison phone call at 9 a.m. Wednesday, via the western communication line," the defense ministry said, referring to one of the two military hotlines set up across the border. The other channel, known as the eastern line, is not fully

The military has recently seen its biggest coronavirus outbreak since the pandemic began, which forced its anti-piracy warship to come home last week. The 301-strong Cheonghae Unit, which left the country unvaccinated for Africa in February, cut short its mission because more than two-thirds of its crew were infected. But the military, which sent an aircraft to airlift the crew and a contingent to bring the 4,400-ton destroyer left behind back home, told the parliamentary defense committee tha

Nearly 90 percent of service members aged 30 and older have received the second doses of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine, the defense ministry said Tuesday. As of Monday, 104,861 troops, or 89.7 percent of troops of the age group who had their first shots, have received the second doses, according to the ministry. The military provided AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine for their first shots in April and May but the second doses were given with Pfizer's after health authorities decided earlier this m

Twelve people affiliated with US Forces Korea (USFK), including five service members, have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the US military said Tuesday. Two service members at Camp Casey in Dongducheon, 40 kilometers north of Seoul, and three service members at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 km south of the capital, were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 after developing symptoms, according to USFK. Four family members of a Department of Defense (DoD) employee and another DoD civ

The defense ministry extended the toughest social distancing rules for the military for another two weeks Monday to curb a new wave of the pandemic, restricting service members' vacations and off-installation activities. The Level 4 scheme, which was supposed to expire Sunday, will be in place until Aug. 8, in line with the government's COVID-19 guidance, according to the ministry. Under the new measures, only 10 percent of members of a unit are allowed to go on vacation at the same time. Off-

A suspect in the suicide death of an Air Force sexual abuse victim has been found dead at a military detention facility, a human rights group said Monday. The senior master sergeant was indicted on charges of inflicting secondary harm and threatening retaliation against the master sergeant who took her own life in May, three months after she was allegedly groped and suffered other abuse by a colleague of the same rank. "The senior master sergeant was found unconscious at 2:55 p.m. Sunday

South Korea is considering deploying only vaccinated service members on overseas missions, the defense ministry said Monday, following a mass COVID-19 outbreak at the anti-piracy Cheonghae unit in waters off Africa that infected 90 percent of its members. According to a report submitted to the parliament's defense committee, the ministry's legal affairs bureau is reviewing adding COVID-19 vaccination as a requirement for overseas deployment. Last week, all 301 members of the Cheonghae unit's 3

Another Navy officer of the coronavirus-hit Cheonghae unit has been confirmed to be infected with the virus, bringing the total caseload to 272 out of 301 members, the military said Sunday. The unidentified service member began to show symptoms while undergoing isolation after the anti-piracy unit returned home aboard special aircraft earlier this week following a mass COVID-19 outbreak inside the vessel. He tested negative upon arrival. Military and health authorities are working to determin

The South Korean military on Saturday reported four additional COVID-19 cases among its personnel, including two enlisted soldiers, bringing its total caseload to 1,485. A draftee of an Army unit in Bupyeong, just west of Seoul, contracted the virus after going on vacation to Cheongju, 120 kilometers south of the capital. He tested positive even though he got two shots of Pfizer's vaccine. A conscript of a Navy unit in Jinhae in the southeastern city of Changwon also tested positive. The late

Seamen on South Korea’s unvaccinated anti-piracy mission who returned home from Africa this week because of a massive COVID outbreak aboard their warship said Friday that the coronavirus could have spread onto the vessel from food supplies they loaded from a nearby port. A seaman from the 301-strong Cheonghae Unit, which arrived here Tuesday with more than two-thirds of its crew infected, exhibited cold symptoms on July 2, a day after the destroyer made a four-day supply stop at a port. M

The military’s decision to launch an inspection into the COVID-19 outbreak that forced its anti-piracy unit to return home from Africa has sparked concerns, as the military plans to run the examination itself without outside experts that critics say are needed for an independent inquiry. The Cheonghae Unit, which cut short its mission, was found to have been sidelined from the vaccine priority list. It was left out from the March vaccination campaign because of supply constraints; it

Three more newly enlisted soldiers at an Army boot camp have tested positive for the new coronavirus, bringing the total caseload recently reported at the base to 122, the defense ministry said Friday. The soldiers at the Korea Army Training Center in the central city of Nonsan were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 while in quarantine following the mass outbreak at the base earlier this month, according to the ministry. In Jinhae, some 410 kilometers southeast of Seoul, a Navy officer was

Five American service members and a civilian worker for the US military in South Korea tested positive for the new coronavirus upon arrival here from the United States, US Forces Korea (USFK) has said. One of the service members arrived at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on a US government chartered flight, and four service members and a civilian affiliated with the US Department of Defense arrived on international commercial flights at Incheon International Airport,