Category: USFK

Not a good look for USFK:

Eight foreigners and one South Korean have tested positive for the new coronavirus after attending a party at a U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) service member’s home, officials said Monday.

The party was held Feb. 13 near Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, and attended by 19 foreigners and two South Koreans, according to officials at the Pyeongtaek city government. The service member works on the base.

Police have been asked to locate two of the attendees, whose whereabouts are currently unknown, the officials said. The other 10 tested negative.

The group met on Instagram and gathered from across the country, including North Gyeongsang, South Chungcheong and Gyeonggi provinces.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The lockdown didn’t last long and instead was shifted to focus on people potentially exposed to the coronavirus:

Osan Air Base, about 40 miles south of Seoul, returned to its pandemic normal Saturday, a day after its commander declared a lockdown to trace the contacts of a service member who tested positive.

Osan allowed most of its personnel to get back to their weekend routines, save those who had visited a list of hot spots associated with its first service member infected with the coronavirus.

Stars & Stripes

You can read the rest at the link.

A U.S. military service member at Osan Airbase came down with the coronavirus and attended a large party against current USFK health guidelines has led to a lockdown of the base:

A U.S. Air Force base in South Korea went on lockdown Friday evening after the first service member there tested positive for the coronavirus, the base commander said.

Col. John Gonzales, commander of the 51st Fighter Wing, ordered anyone affiliated with the base to return home and stay put except for food or other essential business. He said the lockdown, or shelter-in-place, may end as early as Saturday.

Gonzales, in a video posted to Osan’s Facebook page, said he was “truly disgusted” at reports the infected service member attended an off-base party Feb. 13, in violation of all U.S. military public health protection orders and South Korean government directives, too. He ordered anyone who attended the gathering at Dream Castle, building 101, rooms 403 and 404, to quarantine immediately and inform their commands.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Some good news for parents looking to get their kids back to school in South Korea:

U.S. Forces Korea is lowering the coronavirus risk level across more of the peninsula, including at its largest installation, leaving only the Seoul region under the strictest prohibitions for the U.S. military.

The change takes effect 7 a.m. Monday, after the three-day Lunar New Year holiday in South Korea. It coincides with level two social distancing rules in the country, which limit some businesses’ hours and social gatherings to no more than 100 people, according to the Tuesday announcement.

Area I includes the north and northeast region of the country up to the border with North Korea. Area III covers the central region where Osan Air Base and Camp Humphreys are situated. The Seongnam area south of Seoul and the Han River is also included in the change. (………..)

Under condition Bravo, students in Department of Defense Education Activity schools at Camp Humphreys and Osan Air Base will return Tuesday to in-person classes, DODEA-Korea district superintendent Jeff Arrington said in a memo emailed to parents on Tuesday.

Students moved to online learning after USFK raised the HPCON level to Charlie in late December when schools let out for winter break. Students at Camps Walker and George, in the country’s south, returned to school on Tuesday.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It is an amazing phenomenon that it appears only U.S. military training causes noise and not ROK military training. It is kind of like how American radars are supposedly dangerous and Korean ones are not:

 A planned live-fire exercise involving Apache attack helicopters of the U.S. Forces Korea has been suspended following noise and other complaints from residents near the firing range in the southeastern city of Pohang, officials said. 

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission said the drill, which had been scheduled to begin on Tuesday and continue until next month, will be suspended while a mediation procedure is under way with residents near the Suseong firing range in Pohang.

“As the live-fire drill cannot be suspended for a long time, we expect the commission’s prompt and reasonable mediation,” defense ministry spokesperson Boo Seung-chan said during a regular press briefing.

Earlier, some 2,800 residents living near the range filed a petition with the agency calling for the cancellation of the exercise and closure of the facility, citing noise and vibration caused by the exercise. 

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is some good news for service members in Area IV:

Clusters of new cases at Yongsan Garrison in Seoul and at Humphreys prompted weeklong lockdowns starting Jan. 15 while health authorities tracked down potentially infected individuals.

“Area IV’s record of success — including low confirmed cases, zero on-installation positive cases since April 2020, and their reduction of the threat to the community — have contributed to USFK’s decision to adjust its HPCON level to Bravo in Area IV,” USFK commander Gen. Robert Abrams said in the release.

The last USFK case reported in the area involved a service member’s dependent who tested positive on April 25 after returning from a trip to the United States.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.