The Supreme Court of the Republic of Korea (RoK) has upheld aruling ordering two US Agent Orange makers to pay compensation to 39Korean war veterans who fought during the US war in Vietnam.
The court for the first time ever recognised the correlation betweenthe toxic defoliant and certain skin diseases. It said Dow Chemical andMonsanto should pay 466 million won (415,000 USD) to the victims, whosaid exposure to dioxin contained in AO was the cause of their skindiseases.
At the same time, the RoK court reversed anappeal court verdict that demanded the two US companies to paycompensation to thousands of other veterans who claimed to suffer fromdiseases as a result of their exposure to AO in Vietnam. It sentback the verdict to the appeal court for further review.
The RoK sent its troops to fight alongside the US and southern Vietnamese forces during the US war in Vietnam.
From 1961-1971, US troops sprayed more than 80 million litres ofherbicides - 44 million litres of which were AO that contained nearly370kg of dioxin - over southern Vietnam.
As aresult, around 3.5–4 million Vietnamese people were exposed toAO/dioxin. Many of the victims have died, while millions of theirdescendants are living with deformities and diseases due to the effectsof AO.
While the US is financing a dioxindecontamination project at Da Nang airport, one of its former bases incentral Vietnam, it still refuses to recognise the fact that dioxincontained in AO causes cancer and birth defects in AO victims and theirdescendants.-VNA
The court for the first time ever recognised the correlation betweenthe toxic defoliant and certain skin diseases. It said Dow Chemical andMonsanto should pay 466 million won (415,000 USD) to the victims, whosaid exposure to dioxin contained in AO was the cause of their skindiseases.
At the same time, the RoK court reversed anappeal court verdict that demanded the two US companies to paycompensation to thousands of other veterans who claimed to suffer fromdiseases as a result of their exposure to AO in Vietnam. It sentback the verdict to the appeal court for further review.
The RoK sent its troops to fight alongside the US and southern Vietnamese forces during the US war in Vietnam.
From 1961-1971, US troops sprayed more than 80 million litres ofherbicides - 44 million litres of which were AO that contained nearly370kg of dioxin - over southern Vietnam.
As aresult, around 3.5–4 million Vietnamese people were exposed toAO/dioxin. Many of the victims have died, while millions of theirdescendants are living with deformities and diseases due to the effectsof AO.
While the US is financing a dioxindecontamination project at Da Nang airport, one of its former bases incentral Vietnam, it still refuses to recognise the fact that dioxincontained in AO causes cancer and birth defects in AO victims and theirdescendants.-VNA
