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
veterans, that the USFK secretly buried hundreds of Agent Orange drums left after the Vietnam War at Camp Carroll in Chilgok, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in 1978.
"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.
Earlier Sunday, South Korea's government said it has launched extensive investigations into underground water sources near Camp Carroll.
The Government Public Institute of Health and Environment of North Gyeongsang Province said it has taken samples of five underground sources of drinkable water in three regions around the U.S. camp.
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.
Officials from the South Korean institute said they will check whether the poisonous chemical leaked out of the buried drums and polluted the nearby regions' soil and water.
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.
Agent Orange, a powerful toxic herbicide that was widely used in the Vietnam War, is suspected of causing serious health problems, including cancer and genetic damage to some people who are exposed to it and birth defects in their offspring.
The U.S. Eighth 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.