The President and the government excluded ships from quarantine and classified only dispatched soldiers as targets for quarantine against the corona virus as the South Korean Navy dispatched heavily armed warships in cooperation with the US military operation.
President Moon Jae-in said at a cabinet meeting on the 20th that the Cheonghae Unit had been infected with the corona virus by the Munmu the Great, and said, "Our military has responded in its own way, such as taking measures to return all of them home."
Prime Minister Kim Bu-gyeom said at a meeting of the main headquarters on the 20th, "I am very sorry for not taking care of the health of the soldiers."
The Ministry of National Defense announced on the 19th that the status of the Cheonghae Unit's 'no-vaccine' status for 5 months was "oral consultation with the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in February on the vaccine, and comprehensively considered, it was determined that it would be difficult for units dispatched overseas to vaccinate."
On the 19th, Jung Eun-kyung, head of the Vaccination Response Promotion Center (Director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) said, “We have not discussed in detail (with the military authorities) regarding the export of (vaccine) overseas. Regarding international law, since it is for Korean soldiers to be vaccinated, there seems to be no problem in sending a vaccine in consultation with a pharmaceutical company. ” he said.
Commissioner Jeong said, "I will answer after carefully analyzing the response process and testing process after returning to the unit," about the errors in the 800 rapid antibody test kits provided to the Cheonghae Unit.
The government, led by the Ministry of National Defense, dispatched transport planes for the return operation of all crew members to the group infection of ships, excluding infection epidemiological investigators and culture analysts from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. did.
At a press conference at the Ministry of National Defense on the 19th, Defense Minister Seo Wook said, "As the Minister of National Defense, I am deeply responsible for the number of confirmed cases due to my failure to take care of the 34th rank of the Cheonghae Unit more carefully."
In March 2009, the National Assembly passed the 'Agreement on Dispatch of ROK Army Units to Somalia Seas' to eradicate piracy. The Cheonghae Unit dispatched to Somalia waters included a 4,500-ton class destroyer Munmu the Great (DDH-II), an anti-submarine helicopter (LYNX), and a special warfare (UDT/UDT/ SEAL) is a ship dispatching unit of 300 crew members.
The Cheonghae Unit's 'Wang Geon' (DDH-978, 4400t class) was evacuated to a Korean merchant ship in the Trump regime in January last year to evade the US request to participate in the operation, which was abducted by a Korean merchant ship during the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz with Iran. Anti-ship and anti-submarine heavy-armed destroyers began field operations.
At that time, the government did not participate in the US-led International Maritime Security Initiative (IMSC) (International Maritime Security Initiative, Hormuz Escort Coalition), but cooperated with the Cheonghae Unit if it was needed. “For information sharing and other cooperation, two officers from the Cheonghae Unit were sent to the IMSC headquarters in Bahrain. dispatched as a liaison officer”, including exchanges between the U.S. military and the Cheonghae Unit.
According to the agreement at the Korea-US summit in May, the Biden administration designated 1 million doses of Janssen vaccine for the South Korean military and handed it over to South Korea on June 3, and the government changed it to inoculation for reserve forces and civil defense personnel.