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Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Nation
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200601/kt2006012622252211990.htm
Korean war veterans, who fought in the 1965-1973 Vietnam War,
react after the Seoul High Court ruled that two U.S. makers of
the herbicide Agent Orange should pay compensation to Korean victims,
in front of the court building in Socho-dong, southern Seoul,
Thursday.
/Yonhap
A Seoul court ruled on Thursday that two U.S. manufacturers of
the defoliant Agent Orange, a herbicide widely used during the
Vietnam War, should pay compensation to Korean war veterans and
their families for medical damages.
It is the first time that a local court ruled in favor of Vietnam
veterans who suffered from cancer and other latent diseases believed
to have been caused by exposure to Agent Orange, which could open
new possibilities for lawsuits against U.S. chemical companies
that manufactured them.
The Seoul High Court ordered Dow Chemical and Monsanto to pay
63 billion won ($62 million) to 6,795 people who were among the
20,000 war veterans who filed lawsuits against the U.S. companies
in 1999.
Under the court ruling, the two companies will have to pay 6
million won to 46 million won to each of the plaintiffs depending
on their medical conditions.
``The Agent Orange products manufactured by the defendants contained
dioxin levels higher than standard, proving that the defendants
failed to ensure safety regarding the use of its products,’’ the
court said in its ruling.
The court associated 11 types of medical conditions _ including
non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, prostate cancer and
diabetes among others _ with Agent Orange, which contains a high-level
of dioxin, a toxic group of chemicals that are known to cause
birth defects, skin disease and cancer.
However, for illnesses such as Buerger’s disease and peripheral
neuropathy, the court said it did not have enough evidence to
prove they were linked to exposure to Agent Orange.
The appellate court overturned a decision made by a lower court
in 2002, which ruled in favor of the U.S. companies, saying that
it was hard to prove that the plaintiffs’ illnesses were caused
by exposure to Agent Orange.
Korea sent more than 320,000 troops to Vietnam to fight alongside
the United States against the North Vietnamese communist forces
during the 1965-73 war, accounting for the largest outside contribution.
According to U.S. government records, the American army used
more than 19 million gallons of Agent Orange to spray around Vietnam’s
battlegrounds from 1962 to 1971, hoping to destroy forest cover
and undergrowth that shielded enemy troops from view.
War veterans from Korea, the U.S. and Vietnam, along with a large
number of civilians, have claimed they have been suffering from
severe medical effects caused by the exposure to Agent Orange.
According to the Ministry of Patriots and Veteran Affairs, there
are more than 131,000 Koreans who claim they have suffered from
illnesses associated with Agent Orange.
Although the ruling was hailed as a landmark victory for Korean
war veterans, it is still not certain whether they will actually
receive payment from the U.S. companies.
As both U.S. companies have no listed property in Korea it means
there is little Korean authorities can do should they refuse to
abide by the court ruling.
If the U.S. companies refuse to pay the plaintiffs, the Korean
war veterans will have to take their legal battle to a U.S. court
for possible compensation.
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