Seoul, Washington agree to conduct joint 'Agent Orange probe'

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details in paras 2; ADDS with new information in paras 6-9)
SEOUL/CHILGOK, South Korea, May 22 (Yonhap) -- Seoul and Washington have agreed to conduct a joint investigation into allegations that massive amounts of leftover toxic chemical Agent Orange were buried at a U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) base in southeastern South Korea in the 1970s, a top government official here said Sunday.
The allegations surfaced last week after a U.S. television program reported, citing three military veterans, that the USFK secretly buried hundreds of drums of Agent Orange, a substance that was used extensively during the Vietnam War, at Camp Carroll in Chilgok, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in 1978. The chemical was sprayed over forests to kill off trees and shrubs, but its use was halted after it was discovered to cause cancer and lead to serious genetic defects.
"The governments of South Korea and the U.S. have agreed to swiftly proceed for a joint investigation into the alleged Agent Orange burial at the USFK base of Camp Carroll," Yook Dong-han, a deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Office, said after presiding over a government task force meeting on the toxic chemical issue.
"The U.S. has sincerely negotiated with us as they knew of the issue's urgency and seriousness. The U.S. also agreed to share information on the camp's environmental condition. A joint inspection team will look into the camp and the surrounding regions," he said, adding that further details of the inspection will be worked out later.
He said the two countries also agreed that a separate government-civilian panel of local residents and environmental experts will inspect the inside of the camp on Monday.
Related to the joint investigation, Lt. Gen. John D. Johnson, commander of the U.S. 8th Army, said all pertinent information is being scrutinized with every effort to be made to ensure a transparent probe.
He said in a press release, after touring the military facility, that there will be complete sharing of information on data collected and what kinds of experiments will be conducted around the site where the chemicals may have been buried. He said U.S. military officials will take part in the sample collection process and take all necessary action to safeguard the health of both South Korean and U.S. personnel around the military installation.
The comments came after South Korea's government said earlier in the day that it had launched an in-depth probe into an underground aquifer near Camp Carroll.
The Government Public Institute of Health and Environment of North Gyeongsang Province said it started to take samples of five underground sources of drinkable water in three regions around the U.S. camp. If the water supply is contaminated, it can have a direct impact on the health of people because the chemical can get into plants and animals.
One of the three veterans claimed that the U.S. military had buried at least 250 drums of the toxic chemical near a heliport inside Camp Carroll in 1978. He said about 250 200-liter drums were buried over the first two weeks, and then until the fall, there were a few occasions when 30 to 40 drums were buried at a time.
A community center in Chilgok uses an underground water spring for drinking water, which is adjacent to the heliport, they added.
South Korea's Environment Ministry last week launched a probe into the alleged illegal dumping of the chemical and demanded the U.S. military verify the report.
The U.S. 8th Army in South Korea said it was investigating the case. Some 28,500 American service members are currently stationed in the country, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.