Preliminary Decision to Cancel This Year's Reserve Forces Training

In the event of war, reservists and civil defense personnel are ordered to be mobilized according to relevant laws and assembled at designated locations.

[Asia Economy Reporter Yang Nak-gyu] As the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) shows no signs of slowing down, it has been decided not to conduct reserve forces training in the second half of the year. Since the training was not conducted in the first half of this year either, it appears that reserve forces training will not be held at all this year.

On the 16th, a military official stated, "The reserve forces training scheduled to resume in September will practically not take place," adding, "A final decision will be made on the 17th whether to conduct the second half training as a pilot program through online lectures."

Reserve forces training usually begins every February. However, this year, due to the spread of COVID-19, it was postponed to April 17. As the spread of COVID-19 did not subside, the start date was delayed again to June 1. Subsequently, the military authorities gave up on the first half reserve forces training altogether and decided not to conduct any reserve forces training until September. Reserve forces in the special disaster areas of Daegu and Gyeongbuk (Cheongdo, Gyeongsan, Bonghwa) were already exempted from training this year. Additionally, reserve military doctors, public health doctors, and nursing officers who participated in COVID-19 medical support were also excluded from this year’s training.