Seoul probes US toxic dumping report
Source: Agencies |
May 26, 2011, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
SOUTH Korea opened a second investigation in days into a report that the US military dumped toxic chemicals near the capital decades ago, a Defense Ministry official said yesterday, threatening to trigger an anti-American backlash.
Experts have been sent to the former US base in Bucheon, west of Seoul, to check out the claims after South Korean media reported that a US veteran had said "hundreds of gallons" of chemicals were buried there between 1963 and 1964. The accusations could rekindle anti-American sentiment in the country, which saw big protests against the import of US beef in 2008 and over the deaths of two South Korean girls hit by a US military vehicle in 2002.
The US has nearly 30,000 troops in South Korea, and the two countries are grappling with how to deal with North Korea's nuclear program.
South Korea's foreign ministry said the two countries, which are close allies, consider the issue serious, and local media called on the US to come clean on the "alarming" revelations. "Even the slightest hint that the US military is hiding something could lead to widespread public distrust," the top selling Chosun Ilbo newspaper wrote in an editorial.
The latest revelations emerged after South Korean media this week uncovered comments made on the "Korean War Project," a website for ex-servicemen, a decade ago that "every imaginable chemical" had been dumped by US forces at the Bucheon base between 1963-64.
The base, about 20 kilometers west of Seoul, was returned to South Korea in 1993 and is now used by South Korean engineering troops. The US military yesterday attempted to distance itself from the latest report.
"Once the installation was returned to the ROK (Republic of Korea) government, it became their responsibility," said United States Forces Korea (USFK) spokeswoman Cenethea Lofbom.
"The US-ROK Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) does not impose any liability upon the US government for the condition of former installations after they have been returned and accepted by the ROK government," she said.
The latest allegations come after ex-servicemen said they had buried Agent Orange at Camp Carroll in Chilgok, South Korea, in 1978.
Experts have been sent to the former US base in Bucheon, west of Seoul, to check out the claims after South Korean media reported that a US veteran had said "hundreds of gallons" of chemicals were buried there between 1963 and 1964. The accusations could rekindle anti-American sentiment in the country, which saw big protests against the import of US beef in 2008 and over the deaths of two South Korean girls hit by a US military vehicle in 2002.
The US has nearly 30,000 troops in South Korea, and the two countries are grappling with how to deal with North Korea's nuclear program.
South Korea's foreign ministry said the two countries, which are close allies, consider the issue serious, and local media called on the US to come clean on the "alarming" revelations. "Even the slightest hint that the US military is hiding something could lead to widespread public distrust," the top selling Chosun Ilbo newspaper wrote in an editorial.
The latest revelations emerged after South Korean media this week uncovered comments made on the "Korean War Project," a website for ex-servicemen, a decade ago that "every imaginable chemical" had been dumped by US forces at the Bucheon base between 1963-64.
The base, about 20 kilometers west of Seoul, was returned to South Korea in 1993 and is now used by South Korean engineering troops. The US military yesterday attempted to distance itself from the latest report.
"Once the installation was returned to the ROK (Republic of Korea) government, it became their responsibility," said United States Forces Korea (USFK) spokeswoman Cenethea Lofbom.
"The US-ROK Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) does not impose any liability upon the US government for the condition of former installations after they have been returned and accepted by the ROK government," she said.
The latest allegations come after ex-servicemen said they had buried Agent Orange at Camp Carroll in Chilgok, South Korea, in 1978.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
