Page 34 - 2020 Defence White Paper

ROK Armed Forces’ quarantine support at the Incheon Implementation of precise measures against the pandemic
International Airport (June 2020) using special equipment from the ROK CBRN Defense
Command

The "outreach epidemic prevention" support was provided primarily to places that are vulnerable to
infection such as roads, public facilities, crowded facilities, nursing facilities, and schools, with 33,000
personnel as well as 24,000 pieces of equipment, including sterilizers and decontamination vehicles,
deployed from February to November. As the demand for epidemic control soared in Daegu and
Gyeongsangbuk-do Province in March, the ROK CBRN Defense Command, Army 7th Corps, and Army
Missile Command assumed the leading role in deploying more than 1,000 personnel and 300 equipment
to high-risk areas, including cohort isolation facilities. Since then, the CBRN Defense Command has
actively deployed military personnel and equipment to places where measures against the pandemic are
needed to provide support for epidemic control by various means such as conducting precise epidemic
control using special equipment applied in CBRN operations.

| Transportation Support | The ROK Armed Forces established a transportation team for emergency
situations-such as transportation of anti-epidemic supplies for COVID-19 and return of overseas
Koreans-and provided the means of transportation by assigning military transport aircraft, a presidential
aircraft, and Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT). While the supply of face masks remained far short of
the surging demand in February 2020, the ROK Armed Forces mobilized over 360 vehicles and
transported anti-epidemic supplies (13 million face masks and 810,000 sets of personal protective
equipment (PPE)) as well as various relief supplies, including bottled water, to the Central Accident
Investigation Headquarters, Central Disaster Management Headquarters, Ministry of Food and Drug
Safety, and local governments to rapidly deliver anti-epidemic and relief supplies provided by the
government throughout the nation. In March, close cooperation was performed among the MND,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and ROK Embassy in Myanmar for the urgent deployment of Air Force
transport aircraft in carrying 80,000 sets of PPE manufactured in Myanmar within 21 hours, thus
supplying PPE to the ROK medical staff in a timely manner.
The ROK Armed Forces also provided support for Korean nationals based abroad and their safe return.
When a mass infection occurred on the Japanese cruise ship Diamond Princess in February, seven
Korean nationals on board the ship returned home safely using a presidential aircraft. In May, an air

2020 Defense White Paper