S. Korea to conduct environmental survey of former U.S. military bases

(ATTN: ADDS retired soldier saying U.S. aircraft sprayed Agent Orange over the DMZ in the 1950s in last four paras; AMENDS dateline) SEOUL/YEONCHEON, South Korea, May 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's defense ministry will start this week a large-scale environmental survey of former U.S. military bases, officials said Monday, amid growing concerns over the potential burial of the toxic chemical Agent Orange inside a U.S. army camp in the South. Seoul and Washington are jointly investigating claims by retired American soldiers that in 1978 they had helped dump large amounts of the toxic chemical inside Camp Carroll in Chilgok, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul. The claims sparked a series of allegations that the U.S. military had buried chemical materials at its former military bases, prompting the ministry to form a task force to probe the new allegations. The task force was set to hold its first meeting on Monday to discuss how it will proceed with the survey on 85 former U.S. military installations that were turned over to the South before 2003. "The task force will start a survey of the former U.S. military installations from tomorrow," Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters. Kim said the ministry would take "follow-up" measures if the survey finds evidence of chemical dumping by U.S. troops. For the survey, the ministry requested U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) to provide its records and environmental data on the former bases, Kim said. USFK has returned a number of military installations to the South amid an ongoing relocation of U.S. troops and bases here. Officials at USFK's public relations team were not immediately available for comment. Following allegations regarding Camp Carroll, a former U.S. soldier raised a new claim that USFK buried "hundreds of gallons" of chemicals at Camp Mercer in Bucheon, west of Seoul, between 1963 and 1964. About 28,500 U.S. soldiers are stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War. Meanwhile, a retired South Korean soldier told Yonhap News Agency that U.S. military aircraft sprayed large amounts of Agent Orange over the demilitarized zone in the 1950s to thwart North Korean border intrusions following the war. "When I served in the 15th Army in 1955, I saw U.S. aircraft including helicopters spraying the defoliant over the DMZ several times a month," said retired Msg. Eum Do-nam, 77. The 15th Army is stationed in Cheorwon, near the eastern border with North Korea. Although the U.S. military's use of Agent Orange in South Korea in the 1960s is widely known, Eum's remarks are seen as the first account in South Korea that USFK also used the toxic chemical in the 1950s. "After the aircraft passed over, grasses and trees along the sprayed area glowed red and died," Eum recalled.