Five more American service members and one Department of Defense civilian employee tested positive for the new coronavirus upon their arrivals in South Korea, the US Forces Korea (USFK) said Thursday.

The service members arrived at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, on US government chartered flights, while the civilian arrived at Incheon International Airport, west of the capital, on a commercial flight, it said.

Five of them tested positive on their first mandatory COVID-19 test prior to entering quarantine, while the other individual tested positive on the second test required to exit mandatory quarantine, according to the US military.

They have all been transferred to an isolation facility for confirmed patients at Camp Humphreys or at the Osan base.

"None of the new arrivals have interacted with anyone residing within USFK installations or the local community," it said.

The latest virus cases brought the total number of USFK-related infections to 139.

Meanwhile, USFK Commander Gen. Robert Abrams ordered the lifting of travel restrictions to the southwestern city of Gwangju effective Friday. The commander had designated the city off limits to its troops and their family members last month due to the rapid increase of confirmed cases in the region. (Yonhap)