The South Korean military will suspend physical examinations of potential conscripts across the nation for two weeks from Monday.

The Military Manpower Administration said on Sunday that it has made the decision in line with the increase in the country's COVID-19 alert status to the highest "serious" level.

The administration will decide when to resume the examinations while monitoring the virus situation every week. The nationwide suspension could be extended depending on the situation.

The two-week suspension will reportedly affect about 16-thousand-700 people. 

The administration already made a similar move on Friday for Daegu and adjacent North Gyeongsang Province, where a cluster of virus cases were reported in the past few days.