The U.S. military in Korea started a joint on-site probe with South Korean officials Monday into allegations that American troops in South Korea buried large amounts of the highly toxic defoliant Agent Orange at its base in southern South Korea in the 1970s.
U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) took the action only three to four days after the allegations were revealed, an unusually swift response compared with its past lukewarm responses to South Korea's call for investigations into problems at its military bases or among U.S. servicemen.
In order to clear away the suspicions and ensure the health and safety of the Korean people, the U.S. military should investigate the allegations thoroughly and verify the claims with sincerity and take proper measures based on the outcome of the investigation.
Monday's statement by the U.S. 8th Army that its review of military records found "trace amounts" of dioxin at one of its camps in the South and that there was no Agent Orange buried raises suspicions because it runs counter to allegations of former American soldiers who claimed they took part in the burial. Three American veterans appeared on a U.S. TV program last week and accused USFK of burying at least 250 drums of the toxic chemical inside Camp Carroll, a USFK logistics base at Waegwan-ri in Chilgok, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
The statement said a 1992 report by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers showed that "a large number of drums containing chemicals, pesticides, herbicides and solvents were buried in the vicinity of the area identified by former soldiers in news reports" but it didn't identify Agent Orange in particular.
If mentions of Agent Orange were intentionally omitted in the 1992 review, officials should reveal those facts. The amount of chemicals dumped -- 40 to 60 tons, according to the 8th Army statement -- is far smaller than the 100 to 200 tons the veterans claimed.
Environmental contamination is a grave problem threatening humankind. Agent Orange has caused unbearable pain to tens of thousands of Korean veterans from the Vietnam War, during which the American troops used the toxic chemical in massive quantities.
Thorough and sincere investigations into the allegations will only reveal the truth and make proper countermeasures possible.