SEOUL– South Korea’s military plans to scrap pandemic-driven curbs on troops’ off-base trips, starting this weekend in line with the country’s move to lift most COVID-19 restrictions earlier this month, sources said Friday.

Starting Saturday, it will allow service members to make overnight and weekend off-base trips, according to the sources.

Although curbs on service members’ vacations and weekday off-base travel had previously been eased, the military has effectively banned other off-base trips since early 2020 as part of anti-virus measures.

South Korea last week scrapped most of its COVID-19 social distancing restrictions, including gathering limits and business hour curfews, as part of efforts to return to pre-pandemic normalcy.

The military also plans to introduce a two-step social distancing system starting next month to gradually ease other virus restrictions.

It could implement the first step as early as next Monday, which would pave the way for families to attend enlistment ceremonies for fresh recruits at military bases.

Under the second step, only troops infected with the virus will be isolated and the isolation period will also be gradually reduced from one week to three days.

But such a social distancing plan is subject to adjustments based on the future COVID-19 situation and other conditions, a military official said.

Source: Yonhap News Agency