Military asked to delay joint drills amid virus fears

The US military asked the South Korean military to postpone their joint drills in the US because of the novel coronavirus that has killed 32 people and sickened nearly 1,000 there. Korea has reported 60 deaths with about 8,000 infections.

Korea’s Army had planned to send 50 officers including intelligence analysts to the Fort Irwin National Training Center in California later this month to observe US military training. The Army, which plans to push ahead with similar drills in May and October, said the COVID-19 outbreak could affect the schedule.

Meanwhile, Korea’s Navy and Marine Corps have indefinitely postponed their joint drills with the US, whereas the Air Force said it is still in consultation with the US.

Korea has put off joint military exercises with India and Mongolia as well. Multistate maritime drills India is hosting in late March and joint anti-terrorism drills in late April in Mongolia were called off until further notice.

As of Wednesday, the Korean military reported that 38 of its service members tested positive for COVID-19; two of them have recovered. About 3,000 military personnel were still under quarantine. The US military here reported 9 infections, only one of whom was a service member. The others were administrative staff.

By Choi Si-young (siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com)