1,890 File Petitions for Defoliant Damage
A total of 1,890 people lodged petitions for damages arising from exposure to defoliants which were sprayed near the Demilitarized Zone in the late 1960s, a civic group representing defoliant victims said yesterday.
Source : Korea Times
A total of 1,890 people lodged petitions for damages arising from exposure to defoliants which were sprayed near the Demilitarized Zone in the late 1960s, a civic group representing defoliant victims said yesterday.
The petitioners included 150 second-generation family members of victims who were dead or born with deformities, the group said. Of the petitioners, 400 are civilians and 100 have already died.
The group said the victims would form an alliance at a rally scheduled for Friday at the Korea Federation of Trade Unions building in Yoido.
During the rally, the group will call for the passage of a law to enable civilians to seek compensation for harm caused to them by the spraying of Agent Orange and other defoliants.
A law recently approved at the National Assembly allows for compensation only for soldiers and civilian military workers, leaving out civilians who lived near the DMZ in the late 1960s.
A TV investigative report revealed late last year that U.S. Forces Korea had mobilized South Korean troops to spray toxic defoliants along the south of the DMZ in 1968 and 1969, quoting declassified U.S. documents. Three types of defoliant _ Agent Orange, Agent Blue and Monuron _ were reportedly used to improve observation and deny hostile forces the concealment provided by vegetation.
The report said soldiers mobilized to spray defoliants had no protective gear because they thought they were just sprinkling ordinary herbicides.
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