ID :
183102
Thu, 05/19/2011 - 11:16
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/183102
The shortlink copeid
U.S. asked to verify alleged burial of Agent Orange in S. Korea
SEOUL (Yonhap) - South Korea's Environment Ministry said Thursday it plans to demand the United States verify a news report that the U.S. military buried leftover Agent Orange, a defoliant widely used during the Vietnam War, at one of its camps here.
A U.S. cable TV reported this week, citing three former American soldiers who served in the U.S. Forces Korea, that they buried the highly toxic substance at Camp Carroll in Chilgok, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in 1978.
The report by the California-based "KPHO CBS 5 News" didn't specify on the amounts of Agent Orange that were reportedly dumped at Camp Carroll, but one of the former USFK soldiers insisted that there were "approximately 250 drums" of the defoliant in the garage at that time.
"We will raise the issue regarding the claims of the former USFK soldiers at an environment committee under the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA)," said an official at the Environment Ministry.
The committee meeting was set for later in the day and the ministry also plans to ask the U.S. side to jointly investigate the claims, the official said on the condition of anonymity.
The SOFA, signed in 1967 between South Korea and the U.S., governs the legal status of U.S. soldiers, their staff and families stationed here. Some 28,500 American servicemen are in the country, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.
Agent Orange was used by American forces to destroy forest cover during the Vietnam War, which ended in 1975. The defoliant was contaminated by dioxin.
Years after the Vietnam War, the U.S. military also admitted using Agent Orange around the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas.
According to the report, Spc. Steve House, one of the three USFK soldiers who was stationed at Camp Carroll in 1978, got orders to dig a ditch -- nearly the length of a city block.
"They just told us it was going to be used for disposal," House was quoted as saying.
Robert Travis, another former USFK soldier, said, "There was approximately 250 drums. ... On the barrels it said 'chemicals type Agent Orange.' It had a stripe around the barrel dated 1967 for the Republic of Vietnam."
A U.S. cable TV reported this week, citing three former American soldiers who served in the U.S. Forces Korea, that they buried the highly toxic substance at Camp Carroll in Chilgok, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in 1978.
The report by the California-based "KPHO CBS 5 News" didn't specify on the amounts of Agent Orange that were reportedly dumped at Camp Carroll, but one of the former USFK soldiers insisted that there were "approximately 250 drums" of the defoliant in the garage at that time.
"We will raise the issue regarding the claims of the former USFK soldiers at an environment committee under the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA)," said an official at the Environment Ministry.
The committee meeting was set for later in the day and the ministry also plans to ask the U.S. side to jointly investigate the claims, the official said on the condition of anonymity.
The SOFA, signed in 1967 between South Korea and the U.S., governs the legal status of U.S. soldiers, their staff and families stationed here. Some 28,500 American servicemen are in the country, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.
Agent Orange was used by American forces to destroy forest cover during the Vietnam War, which ended in 1975. The defoliant was contaminated by dioxin.
Years after the Vietnam War, the U.S. military also admitted using Agent Orange around the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas.
According to the report, Spc. Steve House, one of the three USFK soldiers who was stationed at Camp Carroll in 1978, got orders to dig a ditch -- nearly the length of a city block.
"They just told us it was going to be used for disposal," House was quoted as saying.
Robert Travis, another former USFK soldier, said, "There was approximately 250 drums. ... On the barrels it said 'chemicals type Agent Orange.' It had a stripe around the barrel dated 1967 for the Republic of Vietnam."
