SEOUL, Feb 27, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – The US and South Korean militaries on
Thursday postponed forthcoming joint exercises due to the coronavirus
outbreak, they said, as the Asian country reported 334 new cases, taking its
total to 1,595.
The decision to delay the training was made after Seoul declared its
highest “severe” alert level over the virus, Combined Forces Command said,
adding the postponement was “until further notice”.
The United States has 28,500 troops in South Korea to protect it against
the nuclear-armed North, many of them based south of Seoul at Camp Humphreys
in Pyeongtaek — Washington’s biggest overseas military facility.
The security allies have previously scaled back their annual joint military
exercises significantly to facilitate nuclear talks with Pyongyang — which
condemns such drills as preparations for an invasion — but a command
coordination exercise had been planned for this spring.
South Korea has the highest number of virus cases in the world outside
China, where the disease first emerged in December. No new deaths had
occurred, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a
statement, with the toll at 12.