Seoul - South Korea's highest court on Friday
upheld a ruling ordering two US Agent Orange makers to compensate 39
Vietnam War veterans, while sending another decision back to a lower
court for review.
The Supreme Court recognised the
correlation between the toxic defoliant and certain skin diseases,
saying the 39 victims should receive a total of 466 million won ($415
000) from Dow Chemical and Monsanto.
The veterans had complained that
Agent Orange was responsible for skin diseases such as “chemical acne”,
which is caused by exposure to dioxin contained in Agent Orange, the
court said.
Payment is now up to the US firms,
but Dow Chemical said in a statement quoted by Yonhap news agency that
it disagreed with the Supreme Court's decision, arguing that the verdict
was not backed by clear evidence, citing US court rulings.
The South Korean court also sent
back an appeals court verdict that the two firms should compensate
thousands of other veterans who claimed to have similarly suffered from
exposure to defoliants used during the Vietnam War.
READ MORE: http://www.iol.co.za/news/world/us-firms-ordered-to-pay-over-agent-orange-1.1546356#.UeQHpm1cVAE
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