Orange exposure
In a landmark judgement, the Seoul High Court has ordered two us -based chemical firms to pay over us $63 million as compensation to South Korea's Vietnam war veterans. The veterans, recruited by the us, were exposed to the defoliant, Agent Orange, used by the us army.
The court has directed Dow Chemical and Monsanto to pay damages to 6,795 of the 17,200 members of the Victims of Agent Orange Veterans Association of Korea and their families in response to a lawsuit filed in May 2002. The companies were found negligent in manufacturing the defoliant with excess dioxin content.
The two firms argue that they manufactured Agent Orange as per the specifications of the us army. They claim there was no scientific proof directly linking exposure to dioxins with various health problems. It is believed that both the companies might soon approach South Korea's Supreme Court (sc).
But the veterans say, "We welcome the ruling though it did not favour all of the victims