SEOUL– South Korea’s anti-piracy military unit will soon resume its operations in waters off Africa following a three-week suspension attributable to dozens of COVID-19 infections among its personnel, according to defense officials Thursday.
No additional coronavirus cases have been reported in the 304-strong Cheonghae unit since last week, with all the service members having returned to the unit except for two soldiers still in quarantine at a hotel in Oman and two others dispatched for medical support, a Joint Chiefs of Staff official told reporters on the condition of anonymity.
The Cheonghae unit is expected to restart its maritime security operations with the 4,500-ton destroyer Choi Young “late at night” Thursday (Seoul time), the official added. So far, 59 members of the unit have been diagnosed with the virus in breakthrough cases. The unit was founded in 2009 and a new contingent of troops departed for a six-month rotational mission in November last year.
Source: Yonhap News Agency