DP leader visits DMZ Rep. Lee Nak-yon (R), chairman of the ruling Democratic Party, visits a front-line unit in the Demilitarized Zone in Yeoncheon, 62 kilometers north of Seoul, on March 6, 2021, in this photo released by the party. (Yonhap)
Due to a surge in coronavirus cases among the foreign population in Gyeongi province all foreign workers must now take a free of charge COVID-19 test by March 22nd:
The shopping street at Dongducheon in Gyeonggi Province is almost empty, March 2. All foreigners in the province have been ordered to take the COVID-19 test before March 22. Yonhap
All foreign workers in Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul, were ordered Monday to take the coronavirus test before March 22, as part of authorities’ efforts to cope with a recent spike in COVID-19 cases in foreigner-dense areas and workplaces.
The latest administrative order from the provincial government of Gyeonggi was delivered to about 85,000 foreign workers in the nation’s most populous province via their employers, officials said.
Under the order, the migrant workers hired by some 25,000 workplaces with at least one foreign employee are obliged to take the virus test between Monday and March 22, they said.
You can read more at the link, but the article said that 151 foreign workers in Dongducheon tested positive for the coronavirus. That explains why U.S. soldiers at Camp Casey currently have a travel ban on them.
The ROK 22nd Division commander has been relieved in the aftermath of last’s months defector incident:
A South Korean major general has been relieved of his command after his troops failed to quickly apprehend a North Korean defector who crawled into the country last month through a seaside drainage pipe, the defense ministry said Thursday.
Several times, surveillance cameras spotted the intruder, who swam across the border in chilly East Sea waters wearing a dive suit. But guard troops of the 22nd Infantry Division failed to notice, according to earlier accounts from the Ministry of National Defense.
Troops took the man into custody at 7:20 a.m. Feb. 16, six hours after he entered the country and three hours after guards finally spotted him on camera at 4:16 a.m.
Snowfall A road at Daegwallyeong Pass, some 220 kilometers northeast of Seoul, is covered with snow on March 7, 2021, after heavy snow hit the northeastern region overnight. (Yonhap)
These exercises have definitely been scaled down significantly, but I guess we will see if North Korea cares or not:
South Korea and the United States will stage a major springtime combined military exercise starting this week in a scaled-back manner amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Sunday. (………)
“South Korea and the U.S. decided to conduct the springtime combined exercise from March 8 for nine days, after comprehensively taking into consideration the COVID-19 situation, the maintenance of the combat readiness posture, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of peace,” the JCS said in a statement.
Fire at temple The main structure of Naejang Temple in the southwestern city of Jeongeup is engulfed in flames on March 5, 2021, In this photo provided by firefighters in North Jeolla Province. Police later arrested a suspected arsonist. (Yonhap)
