(LEAD) Three South Korean service members on missions overseas test positive for COVID-19

Defense 14:28 February 03, 2021

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead with new cases among troops overseas; ADDS more details in paras 2-10, photo)
By Oh Seok-min

SEOUL, Feb. 3 (Yonhap) -- Two South Korean Army officers on a peacekeeping mission in Lebanon and one Navy officer dispatched to Bahrain have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Wednesday.

It is the first time that the country reported COVID-19 cases among its service members stationed overseas.

The two Army officers affiliated with the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNFIL) underwent tests after one local worker on their base tested positive, and they were confirmed to have been infected on Tuesday (Lebanon time), according to the ministry.

Three more South Korean service members are on the same base, but they tested negative, it added.

"According to the U.N. force's guidelines, the two have been in quarantine at a separate facility and received treatment," the ministry said in a statement.

Col. Kim Do-young (R) who commands South Korea's Dongmyung Unit in Lebanon, delivers emergency relief items to Lebanese officers on Aug. 8, 2020, to help the country recover from a recent massive explosion, in this photo provided by South Korea's defense ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

The Navy officer currently working for the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) headquartered in the Middle Eastern country tested positive on Saturday after coming into contact with one of his foreign colleagues who was later confirmed to have contracted the virus.

Four other South Koreans at the same base tested negative, according to the ministry.

"The three patients are not in critical condition, and we have been working to implement thorough antivirus steps for troops stationed overseas," the ministry said.

The ministry releases data related to COVID-19 cases in the military on a daily basis, but those stationed overseas are not included in the tally.

As of 10 a.m. Wednesday, the ministry reported 552 virus patients among the military population.

The latest case was a Marine officer who was confirmed to have been infected after undergoing a test ahead of his planned return to the base after leave. His unit is in Gimpo, west of Seoul, and he has stayed in Seoul while on leave, according to the ministry.

Currently, 165 service members are in isolation in accordance with health authorities' guidelines, and the military has quarantined an additional 4,166 people under stricter antivirus measures of its own as a preventive step, the ministry said.

Nationwide, South Korea added 467 more COVID-19 cases, including 433 local infections, raising the total caseload to 79,311, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).