Limited Leave Permission for Military Personnel (Comprehensive)

As social distancing was adjusted to Level 1, military personnel's leave, which had been restricted to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection, was fully implemented on the 12th. Military personnel are seen moving at Seoul Station. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter]Due to military quarantine guidelines to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), limited leave will be granted to new recruits who have been unable to take leave for an extended period.

Bu Seung-chan, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, stated at the regular briefing on the 1st, "In accordance with the government's extension of social distancing measures, the military's social distancing level 2.5 will be extended until the 14th. However, limited leave will be allowed starting from the 3rd only for new recruits who have never taken leave since enlistment."

A Ministry of National Defense official explained, "Leave is not being granted to all new recruits regardless of enlistment date, but only to those soldiers who enlisted before last year's Chuseok and have never taken leave."

Accordingly, soldiers who enlisted before October 1 of last year and have not yet taken leave will be able to take leave starting from the 3rd. The Ministry of National Defense described this as a measure to alleviate the difficulties faced by soldiers due to prolonged leave restrictions under stricter unit management guidelines than the government’s.

To prevent the spread of COVID-19, PCR tests will be conducted both upon return from leave and at the end of the two-week preventive quarantine and observation period. To facilitate preventive quarantine within the same group, leave personnel will be controlled to return on the same day.

The Ministry of National Defense will also ease restrictions on private gatherings and dinners among officers, allowing them within the scope of the government's guidelines that prohibit all private gatherings of five or more people.

Since the spread of COVID-19 intensified, the Ministry of National Defense raised the military’s social distancing to level 2.5 for all units from November 26 last year and has maintained it since then.

As a result, all soldiers’ leave and outings, except for pre-discharge leave or petition leave, have been temporarily suspended, and officers’ private gatherings and dinners had to be postponed or canceled.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.