Nine Army soldiers and a military civilian employee have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Thursday.

Of them, eight soldiers were from a unit in Hongcheon, about 100 kilometers east of Seoul, where a COVID-19 case was reported earlier.

Around 390 members of the unit received virus tests after the initial case was reported, and around 70 of them are still waiting for their test results, according to the ministry.

Separately, another soldier in the southwestern city of Gwangju was confirmed to have contracted the virus following a vacation, and a civilian employee in Seongnam, south of Seoul, tested positive after developing symptoms.

The ministry said virus tests are under way for those who had contact with the infected individuals.

The latest cases raised the total number of infections reported among the military population to 904.

Nationwide, South Korea reported 646 new cases Thursday, bringing the total caseload to 134,117. (Yonhap)