"North Has Vaccine Supplies, but Cheonghae Unit... Opposition Criticizes Military Personnel for Not Receiving Vaccines"

A COVID-19 outbreak occurred on the Munmu the Great ship of the 34th Cheonghae Unit of the Navy deployed overseas.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] Recently, in relation to the large-scale COVID-19 outbreak in the Cheonghae Unit, the opposition strongly criticized the government's response to unvaccinated military personnel.

On the 18th, Kang Ming-guk, the floor spokesperson for the People Power Party, stated in a commentary, "If they say they will strengthen support and treatment for military personnel but actually leave them in a blind spot of quarantine, who will volunteer for dispatch units in the future?" He added, "The self-praise of K-quarantine is shameful."

Spokesperson Kang explained, "There are already about 80 symptomatic COVID-19 cases on the Cheonghae Unit's ship, and in a rapid test conducted on 50 crew members, 49 tested positive. Enclosed warships are extremely vulnerable to COVID-19. There was already a precedent three months ago when about 30 confirmed cases were reported on the Navy's landing ship Gojunbong."

He continued, "Nevertheless, the Moon Jae-in administration did not send a single vaccine to the Cheonghae Unit soldiers who are struggling in dangerous environments for the country," and added, "The military explained that it postponed the vaccination schedule because it was difficult to plan vaccine transportation or manage side effects after vaccination."

He also criticized, "President Moon Jae-in stated in June that 'if North Korea agrees, we will promote vaccine supply cooperation.' Does that mean there were vaccines to give to North Korea but none for the Cheonghae Unit soldiers?" He asserted, "It can only be seen as a lack of will, not unfavorable circumstances."

Furthermore, he emphasized, "The Moon administration, which did not send a single vaccine due to complacency and negligence, cannot escape responsibility for this 'Cheonghae Unit mass infection incident.' I hope they show through actions that nothing is more important than the lives and safety of the people."

Meanwhile, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) on the same day, 61 additional crew members out of 101 on the 34th Cheonghae Unit ship Munmu the Great tested positive. This means two-thirds of those notified of results were confirmed positive.

Thus, since the first confirmed case was identified on the 15th (based on the reporting date), the cumulative number of confirmed cases increased to 68 in just three days.

The JCS explained, "Out of about 300 crew members who underwent PCR testing requested by local health authorities, results for 101 have been notified. Including the 7 previously confirmed cases, 68 tested positive and 33 tested negative."

Since the PCR test results for the remaining 200 have not yet been released, the number of confirmed cases is expected to increase significantly.

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