In a South Korean Army barracks environment a massive spread event like this is likely if just one person gets sick considering how close the soldiers sleep to one another in open bays:
This image provided by Yonhap News TV shows potential conscripts undergoing a test for the new coronavirus.
Sixty newly enlisted soldiers tested positive for the new coronavirus at an Army boot camp in the central border town of Yeoncheon on Wednesday, the defense ministry said.
They underwent virus tests after one of their colleagues showed symptoms and tested positive earlier in the day, even though he tested negative in an initial test taken upon his entrance into the camp, according to the ministry.
They all joined the military on Nov. 10.
The figure is feared to grow, as the authorities are conducting tests for around 860 new enlistees.
This is really something more Korean troops should take part in because the NTC is some of the best training I have ever done in the Army:
Dozens of South Korean troops visited a U.S. military training center in California and staged combined training exercises with American service members, officials said Wednesday.
Around 50 Army members, including those from a reconnaissance unit, carried out various joint maneuvers with the U.S. troops at the U.S. Fort Irwin National Training Center (NTC) for about a month from mid-October, according to the officials.
They returned home Tuesday and have been quarantined for the new coronavirus, they added.
Initially, the Army was scheduled to send troops to the training center earlier this year, but the plan was postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The NTC had been closed for months to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
No apology will ever make the Korean left happy on this issue. Just like with the comfort women issue, they need to keep this issue alive to bash their political enemies with. So in the grand scheme of things this apology is meaningless to the Korean left:
A mother of a victim killed during the May 18 pro-democracy uprising weeps at the national cemetery in the southwestern city of Gwangju on May 17, 2020, on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the movement. (Yonhap)
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Nam Yeong-shin apologized Friday for the military’s brutal crackdown on protestors during a 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju, vowing to fully cooperate with an ongoing probe into the case.
This is the first time in 40 years that an Army chief officially apologized for the bloody incident.
“I believe that the military’s involvement in the May 18 Democratization Movement is gravely wrong,” Nam said during a parliamentary audit of the Army on Friday. “I’d like to offer a sincere apology to victims and bereaved families.”
It looks like President Moon is cycling the Defense Minister position among all the military services:
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Suh Wook
President Moon Jae-in has nominated Army Chief of Staff Gen. Suh Wook as new defense minister, Cheong Wa Dae announced Friday.
If appointed after a National Assembly confirmation hearing, Suh would replace Jeong Kyeong-doo. If so, he would become the first defense chief with an Army background under the Moon administration.
Moon’s first defense minister was a retired Navy admiral, Song Young-moo, and Jeong is a former fighter pilot who served as Air Force chief.
Life for this ROK Army Staff Sergeant must really suck, not only is he infected with COVID-19, but he has been outed as being gay, subject of derision across Korea for creating this cluster infection, and will likely get smash by ROK military justice for breaking an order:
South Korea’s Defense Ministry
South Korea’s military on Wednesday reported three more COVID-19 infections linked to a cluster that emerged in Seoul’s Itaewon district recently, bringing the tally to 11. The three soldiers apparently contracted the coronavirus from a staff sergeant at the Cyber Command in central Seoul.
Of all the cases uncovered so far, four soldiers and five officers worked at the Cyber Command, and the other two officers were stationed at an Army base in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.
The staff sergeant at the Cyber Command initially tested positive Friday after having visited a club in Itaewon on May 2 in violation of rules the military had imposed to cut risks.
The sergeant is believed to be responsible for all the infections linked to Itaewon at the Cyber Command.
You can read more at the link, but let this be a warning to everyone in USFK thinking about going out to any bars or clubs. Could you imagine the negative media if a U.S. soldier caused a massive cluster infection like this?
This whole situation makes me wonder if the only reason Byun enlisted was to be activist like this:
Byun Hee-soo, a transgender Army staff sergeant, speaks during a press conference in Seoul on Jan. 22, 2020, after a military panel decides to discharge her. (Yonhap)
South Korea’s first transgender soldier on Wednesday pleaded to be allowed to continue to serve after the military decided to discharge her.
Byun Hee-soo, an Army staff sergeant in her 20s, voluntarily enlisted as a man in 2017 and underwent sex reassignment surgery in November last year. A military panel decided not to allow the noncommissioned officer to stay in the Army.
Right after the decision was announced, Byun came out in public and held an emotional press conference before TV cameras, requesting equal treatment for sexual minorities and the right to complete the military service.
“I hope that sexual minorities in the military can carry out their duties without discrimination and I want to set a good precedent in this kind of case and want to add power to make that happen,” she said while wearing a military uniform.
There could be a steep drop in the number of ROK Army soldiers in the coming years:
The Korean Air Force shared a photo Friday of soldiers conducting helicopter hoist training in Goesan County, North Chungcheong. [YONHAP]
The Army said Friday it plans to reduce the number of troops by around 100,000 over the next three years in the face of a shrinking population and as part of reform initiatives to create a smaller, smarter military.
By 2022, the number of soldiers will be slashed to about 365,000 from the current level of around 464,000, according to an Army report presented to the National Assembly.
This is in line with defense reforms under which the government seeks to reduce the number of troops to cope with fewer potential draftees and shorter mandatory service terms for conscripts.
Ground forces festA child stands atop an armored vehicle during the 2019 Ground Forces Festival on an airstrip at the Gyeryongdae military headquarters, 160 kilometers south of Seoul, on Oct. 4, 2019. (Yonhap)
After trainingSoldiers go through a shower tunnel after finishing training amid a toasting heat wave at a boot camp in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province, on Aug. 8, 2019, in this photo provided by the camp. (Yonhap)
In a fight with North Korea this gun will probably see more action supporting ground troops than shooting down aircraft:
South Korea successfully developed a 30-mm wheel-type anti-aircraft gun system that has a longer range and better mobility than the previous model, the arms procurement agency said Wednesday. Under the 55-billion won (US$46.58 million) project launched in June, 2015, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) and Hanwha Defense Co. developed the anti-aircraft gun wheeled vehicle system, and final tests and evaluations proved that it met all the military requirements. As a system designed to ward off low-altitude attacks by enemy aircraft, the new weapon has an effective range of 3 kilometers, some 1.6 times longer than the 20mm Vulcan anti-aircraft guns, and its latest targeting systems allow it to have automatic tracking and self-targeting capabilities, according to the DAPA. The adoption of the wheeled platform also enabled it to provide active mobile and localized support for troops, it added.
