Vacation ban for S.Korean troops lifted

Seoul, Oct 12 South Korea's Defence Ministry announced on Monday that it has decided to lift a vacation ban for enlisted service members after the government eased Covid-19 restrictions.

In August, South Korea imposed the Level 2 social distancing measures, the second-highest on a three-tier system, as cases spiked following a holiday and a mass rally that took place in Seoul, reports Yonhap News Agency.

As part of the measures, the ban was enforced which barred rank-and-file troops from going on a vacation, as well as off-base movement.

But as the country has decided to ease the strict restrictions to the lowest due to a decline in the number of new cases, the Defence Ministry will now allowing service members to go on a vacation normally starting from Monday, according to the officials.

"We will have service members fully follow anti-virus measures over the course of their off-base trips," Yonhap News Agency quoted deputy spokesperson Col. Moon Hog-sik as saying at a briefing.

"We will recommend troops to postpone their vacationing if they are stationed in regions that report confirmed cases," Moon said, adding that some restrictions on their one-day off-installation travel and meeting outside visitors will remain in place as part of continued efforts to stem the spread of the virus.

On Monday, the country reported 97 new virus cases, raising the total caseload to 24,703, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

( With inputs from IANS )