The United States and Thailand are said to have begun discussing whether Cobra Gold, a multinational alliance landing drill in Thailand, will be postponed today. This is due to new corona spreading concerns. It is a training session involving nine military forces from Korea, the United States, China, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and India.

China, the epicenter of the new corona, seems to have decided not to send the People's Liberation Army. We are making a final decision early next week as we are gathering opinions about the absence of training in the Navy and Marine Corps. In addition, if the United States and Thailand decide to postpone the training itself, this is the first time that multinational coalition training is canceled because of the new corona.

● Final decision on whether to participate in the Korean Navy and Marine Corps

Our troops, including 290 Marines, are scheduled to participate in Cobra Gold. I plan to leave Thailand in a transport ship seal on the 15th. Thailand, where training is taking place, is a corona-hazardous area, and Malaysia and Singapore who participate in training are also affected by corona. There is a risk of being infected with corona during Thailand's landing drills, command post training, and public support activities. It is too hot to wear a mask.
If you have a fever, cough, body aches, and a cold box, you'll have a lot of confusion. It's especially trap-trained, so if you have a devastation box, the training is a mess. An official from the military said, "There are no medical staff in the corridor to deal with the corona."

As you can see from the Japanese cruise ship that became a corona virus culture center, ships and infectious diseases are the best. Almost all ships except hospital ships circulate air in a single air conditioning system. Once the virus has penetrated the ship, promiscuous transmission is a matter of time.

The military's opinion seems to be a bit inclined towards not going to Cobra Gold training. The final decision is made in 10-11 days. A senior military official said, "We are aware that China is not aware of the concerns of our training partners."

There is a lot less work to do with Yonhap, but some people say that it is a waste to have a good opportunity to train Yonsei. If the remaining seven countries are trained, the Korean Marine Corps catching ghosts seem to be on their own. But I worry a lot about it.

● Discussing postponement of training

The best scenario is to postpone the training itself. It is good for us not to notice foreign troops training through the corona, and also to prevent the spread of corona. The host country, Thailand, is responsible for the corona infection of trained soldiers and has no intention of stopping the training.
Fortunately, Thailand is discussing postponement of training with the US Indo-Pacific Command. A source of the military said, "The burden of Thailand is high because of the high speed and wavelength of corona transmission."

The keys are held by the United States. The US military closely trains the Indo-Pacific region, and if the schedule is twisted due to cobra gold delays, other training is likely to be disrupted. That's why America is cautious.

However, if Corona's momentum does not break, the united training other than Cobra Gold may be canceled. Next month, ROK-US Combined Command Post training is scheduled. In the narrow bunkers, US-US military commanders sit shoulder to shoulder to practice mock warfare.

In the meantime, if a bequest box comes out of the bunker, the self-isolation of the ROK-US alliance command, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, USFK, is inevitable. The military is paralyzed. There is still some time, and the military is not considering the postponement of the Allied Command Post training. May Corona calm down quickly so you can train without worry.