Author: GIKorea

Here is the further erosion of Korea’s “Living with COVID” strategy:

The U.S. military command in South Korea on Friday imposed a 10-day quarantine for inbound personnel and did away with the “working quarantine” that allowed individuals to move between their homes and workplaces.

The new policy for U.S. service members, Defense Department employees and their families, regardless of vaccination status, aligns with South Korea’s updated measures as it confronts an increase in new coronavirus cases.

The 14-day “working quarantine” that permitted new arrivals under the status of forces agreement to move between their homes or other quarantine sites and their workplaces is no longer permitted, according to a U.S. Forces Korea announcement Friday. SOFA outlines the rights and privileges of U.S. servicemembers, Defense Department civilians and their families in the host nation.

During quarantine, individuals must take a PCR, or polymerase chain reaction, test on the first and eighth or ninth day, according to USFK. Sponsors of newly arrived individuals may travel if their guest or cohabitant tests negative on the first test.

South Korea imposed a 10-day quarantine for all arrivals this week following a surge of new cases in the country. The Korea Disease and Prevention Agency reported 5,266 new cases Thursday, a record high since the pandemic began in March 2020.

In its latest update, USFK reported 36 new cases between Nov. 23 and Monday. Roughly 98% of its service members are fully vaccinated, the command said in November.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.

It looks like the couple that contracted South Korea’s first cases of Omicron could face legal troubles:

A couple, who tested positive for the omicron coronavirus variant for the first time in South Korea, was found to have lied about how they went home from the airport upon return from Nigeria, leaving dozens of people exposed to the risk of infection.

The couple — a pastor and his wife in their 40s — initially told health authorities they took one of the officially designated infection-proof “quarantine” taxies to return home from Incheon International Airport on Nov. 24.

But it was found later that a friend of the couple, a Uzbek national, drove them home in a private vehicle. That left the friend out of health authorities’ radar even after the couple tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 25.

The friend moved around without any restrictions for six days, coming into contact with 87 people, including family, friends and co-workers, and putting them at risk of COVID-19 infection. He later tested positive for the new variant.

Officials said two of them — his wife and his mother-in-law — have been categorized as suspected omicron cases and an investigation is under way. 

Health authorities said they are mulling over the option of filing charges of infectious disease prevention law violations against the couple, saying “their false statement left the Uzbek man uncategorized as those who came in close contact with COVID-19 patients.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I once talked to a contract tracer that said people lying to them is actually quite common. For example I would not be surprised if this Uzbek national that picked them up at the airport may have immigration issues. If so the couple may have lied to protect him.

Great job by all the Soldiers involved in donating these Christmas presents:

 U.S. soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Division marched on Thursday with rucksacks filled with toys and other gifts to donate to South Korean orphanages for Christmas.

The temperature at 6:30 a.m. stood at 23 degrees Fahrenheit when about 60 soldiers and their family members began their 3-mile trek at Camp Humphreys, the largest U.S. military base overseas.

The marchers filled their rucksacks with the gifts they planned to donate, then shouldered their loads and hiked to 2nd ID headquarters. They left their gifts under a Christmas tree in the lobby.

Some participants wore the Army’s duty uniform during the march, while others wore festive hats and Christmas-themed outfits that included flashing lights. One person wore a sweatshirt that said, “Merry Christmas You Filthy Leg,” an apparent reference to a quote from the holiday movie “Home Alone 2” and the endearing moniker for troops who are not Airborne qualified.

Amanda Nguyen, an adviser for the 2nd ID Soldier and Family Readiness Group, reached out to local orphanages and organized the event. Nguyen, who grew up in a military family, said she was gifted toys through a similar event as a child because her family could not afford them.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Here is some good news for small business owners in South Korea:

South Korea is unlikely to reimpose tighter social distancing rules despite surging COVID-19 infections, as the government is set to announce new measures to help tame the latest wave of infections, a senior presidential official said Thursday. 

The new measures will be announced Friday as the nation is battling to contain virus infections, with daily cases standing at a record high of more than 5,200 earlier in the day. 

“Rather than a drastic tightening of distancing rules, (the government) will announce measures on how to fine-tune (current measures),” Park Soo-hyun, senior presidential secretary for communication, told a KBS YouTube channel.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

President Moon continues to push hard for an end of war declaration for the Korean War before he exits office early next year:

The scheduled visit to China by President Moon Jae-in’s top security advisor is widely believed to be seeking Beijing’s support and cooperation for the President’s proposal of declaring an official end to the Korean War. However, experts say it remains to be seen how actively China will work on the issue, given the complex geopolitical situation.

Cheong Wa Dae said, Wednesday, that National Security Advisor Suh Hoon will visit Tianjin from Thursday to Friday for talks with his Chinese counterparts, at the invitation of the Chinese Communist Party’s head of foreign affairs, Yang Jiechi.

The presidential office said that Suh’s trip will be a reciprocal visit for Yang’s visit to Busan in August last year, and the two will discuss, “South Korea-China relations, Korean Peninsula issues, regional and international affairs and other topics of mutual interests.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

You can read more about the KAL 858 bombing from my DMZ Flashpoints article.

The US Defense Secretary is in Korea to discuss the transfer of OPCON to South Korea:

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Seoul on Wednesday for annual security talks with his South Korean counterpart on the envisioned wartime operational control (OPCON) transfer, North Korean threats and the bilateral alliance.

Austin landed at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, for a three-day trip on the eve of the 53rd Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) at the defense ministry here.

This year’s SCM comes days after Washington concluded nine months of a global defense posture review, calling for tighter cooperation with allies to confront security challenges from an increasingly assertive China and a recalcitrant North Korea.

At the SCM, Seoul’s Defense Minister Suh Wook and Austin are expected to discuss when and how to conduct the full operational capability (FOC) assessment — the second part of a three-phase program designed to verify if South Korea is ready to retake wartime OPCON.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.