South Korea reports 63 new coronavirus cases

Just days after South Korean officials hopefully declared the country's COVID-19 epidemic was coming under control, health authorities reported 63 newly confirmed cases. South Korea's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday said at least 36 of the new cases came from the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, where about half of the country's 51 million people live.

The KCDC didn't immediately confirm whether the numbers included a new cluster of infections discovered at a frontline army unit in Pocheon, north of Seoul, where at least 13 troops have reportedly tested positive. The KCDC said 29 of the new cases were local transmissions and tied the other 34 to international arrivals as the virus continues to spread in Asia, the United States and beyond. The government also plans to send to send two military planes to Iraq on Wednesday to evacuate around 300 South Korean construction workers amid the spread of the virus there.

The national caseload is now at 13,879, including 297 deaths. The country had reported four local transmissions on Monday, which was the lowest in two months, prompting a celebratory tweet from President Moon Jae-in who said the nation as winning its fight against COVID-19.