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South Korea's prime minister has offered a public apology over a large-scale coronavirus outbreak on a destroyer on an anti-piracy mission off East Africa.
Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Tuesday the government is “very sorry for failing to carefully take care of the health of our soldiers who are devoting themselves to the country.”
The Defense Ministry says 247 of the destroyer's 301 crew members have been infected. It's the largest cluster for South Korea's military since the pandemic began.
South Korea sent two military planes to bring back all 301 sailors.
On Tuesday, South Korea reported 1,278 new virus cases, taking the total caseload to 180,481, with 2,059 deaths from COVID-19. It was the 14th day in a row that South Korea has confirmed more than 1,000 new cases.
