A U.S. military document from the early 1990s confirms the dumping of the lethal defoliant Agent Orange in the grounds of Camp Carroll in Chilgok, South Gyeongsang Province, KBS News reported Monday. The broadcaster said the report notes that drums of Agent Orange were buried under a baseball field inside the U.S. military base.
The U.S. Forces Korea have denied the existence of any records of the dumping.
But the document "contained information that the defoliant Agent Orange was buried under Area HH in Camp Carroll during the Vietnam War and was removed later," KBS said.
The document is a draft report prepared by California-based Woodward Clyde Consulting at the request of the Corps of Engineers under the U.S. Pacific Command back in 1992, according to the broadcaster.
The report adds that other chemical agents, insecticides, defoliants and solvents were also stored in Camp Carroll, and there were records of seepage from some of the containers into the ground.
The Environment Ministry, which is reviewing the report in question, said that it can neither confirm nor deny the KBS story since the Status of Forces Agreement prohibits revealing any matters that are subject to negotiation between Korea and the U.S. without mutual consent.
