Seoul is reportedly discussing with Washington possible improvements to the way U.S. military personnel are tested for COVID-19 before departing for South Korea. 

This comes amid an increase in imported cases involving members of U.S. Forces Korea(USFK), which announced on Monday that nine people arriving at Incheon International Airport on four separate private airplanes since last Wednesday were confirmed to have contracted the disease. 

Two other U.S. soldiers also tested positive last Tuesday upon arrival at Osan Air Base on a U.S. government-chartered flight. 

Those affected were sent to quarantine facilities in Camp Humphreys or Osan Air Base, the U.S. military said. 

The USFK has been administering tests and implementing quarantine measures for those testing positive upon arrival in coordination with the South Korean government. However, U.S. soldiers are apparently checked only for simple symptoms, such as high fever, before departing for South Korea.  

Under a possible new plan, U.S. soldiers may be put under a 14-day quarantine in isolation before being sent to South Korea.