USFK Lifts Some Coronavirus Restrictions on Personnel Stationed at Yongsan Garrison
Life is about to get a little better for USFK personnel still stationed at Yongsan Garrison in Seoul:
The U.S. military said Saturday that it will ease anti-coronavirus restrictions for troops and other personnel on this Army garrison in Seoul, but unauthorized travel to the capital from other bases remains prohibited.
The move, which begins at noon Monday, came more than a month after U.S. Forces Korea lifted restrictions for bases elsewhere in South Korea but maintained them for Yongsan because of continued cluster infections there.
USFK cited “the continued low numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases within Yongsan district,” for its decision to lower the health alert level from “Charlie” to “Bravo” for the area in central Seoul.
That means personnel may go to restaurants, hair salons, child care facilities, gyms and other off-base establishments in Yongsan for the first time in months, but only if they live in the area.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link, but personnel from bases out of Seoul are still not allowed to travel to the nation’s capitol city due to the coronavirus. The way this pandemic is turning out, you could have someone do an entire tour in USFK and never get a chance to visit Seoul because of the coronavirus.
That would suck. I went to Seoul or Yongsan only a handful of times, but I enjoyed every trip because it seemed more “normal” down there compared to the Western Corridor. Also the only place I ever slept on the peninsula without 1 ear open for an alert siren was Seoul.