Hopefully no one in the U.S. military had any travel plans to Seoul anytime soon:
The military command responsible for U.S. troops in South Korea has temporarily restricted troops from traveling to 41 districts following a surge in COVID-19 cases in the country.
The updated travel guidelines announced by U.S. Forces Korea on Wednesday reflect a recent increase in coronavirus cases around the country, according to a post on the USFK official Facebook page. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on Saturday reported 3,271 new cases, a new daily record in the country.
The surge comes days after Chuseok, the nation’s harvest holiday. South Korean health officials previously said they expected a dramatic increase in cases and warned residents to limit their travel plans during the three-day holiday Sept. 20 to 22. Nearly 33 million people traveled during the holiday week, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
USFK has divided the country into roughly 230 districts to reflect changing rates of coronavirus infection. USFK service members, civilian employees, family members and contractors are prohibited from traveling to districts with 50 or more confirmed COVID-19 patients per 100,000 people over a seven-day period. The command updates its district guidelines every week.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link, but the article states that 80% of Seoul is off limits due to the COVID surge.
Interesting read for ROK Drop favorite Robert Neff about the liberation of Seoul at the end of World War II:
On Sept. 8, 1945, American soldiers began arriving in Incheon. Everett Shipley informed his parents in a letter home that his unit arrived in the port at about 3 p.m. and were greeted by the Japanese who provided them with trucks and other logistical support to off-load their equipment.
Korea Times
The following morning, American soldiers were transported by train to Seoul, where, upon arrival, they marched in silence to their positions at Bando Hotel and the Japanese headquarters in Yongsan. Donald Clark, in his book “Living Dangerously in Korea,” notes that while the soldiers marched in silence, American “planes roared overhead ‘providing striking demonstrations of power that could hardly have failed to impress both Japanese and Koreans.'”
Later that afternoon, at around 4 p.m., General Hodge and Admiral Kincaid arrived at the Government-General Building and, after a short speech ― “listened glumly to by the Japanese” ― Hodge accepted Japan’s surrender.
You can read more at the link.
It looks like Koreans may see reduced restaurant hours due to the current coronavirus wave:
Owners of mom-and-pop restaurants and cafes in the greater Seoul area are considering scaling back operating hours for two weeks, as the country went into a semi-lockdown Monday and most people are expected to cancel dinner appointments and stay at home.
The government imposed the most stringent social distancing rules in the area, effective until July 25, since coronavirus cases have been surging to record levels, with a majority of the cases breaking out in the capital and its surrounding region.
Gatherings of three people or more in restaurants and cafes are banned after 6 p.m., and most public and private companies ordered their employees to work from home to bring the rapid spread of the coronavirus under control.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
It will be interesting to see if the Korean and international media will trash the KCTU for not following coronavirus restrictions like they did back in August against a conservative rally:
South Korea’s major umbrella labor union pressed ahead with a massive street rally Saturday in central Seoul despite the government’s warning of a stern response.
Around 8,000 members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) gathered in the Jongno district, ignoring the government’s call to cancel the assembly feared to affect the fight against COVID-19. The country is struggling to contain a resurgence of coronavirus cases.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
