Reuters quoted a source from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) on December 30 as saying that the country had recorded 1,050 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight on December 29, bringing the total number of cases nationwide to 59,773 people and the number of deaths to 879 people.
According to information from the Ministry of Justice, a prison in the southeast of the capital Seoul has 771 prisoners and 21 employees infected with the disease, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases related to this detention facility to 792.
On December 29, Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae visited the prison and directed the quarantine of infected prisoners, while expanding the pardon for exemplary prisoners, the Ministry said in a statement.
Korean media has posted images of prisoners raising signs with the words "Please save us".
KDCA informed that this week, a prisoner with underlying medical conditions died of COVID-19.
In another development, spokesperson for the South Korean Ministry of National Defense Boo Seung-chan said that the US military will vaccinate Korean soldiers serving in the US Forces in South Korea (USFK) with COVID-19 vaccine.
We have informed USFK that we accept vaccination for Korean citizens on a voluntary basis and that the list of vaccinated people will have to be shared, said Boo.
The US military stationed in South Korea on December 29 received the first doses of COVID-19 vaccine. USFK includes about 28,500 US soldiers as well as thousands of other workers and their family members.
South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said at a government meeting that authorities may further tighten regulations on social distancing this weekend as year-end travel risks increasing new COVID-19 infections.
