Seoul (VNA) – The Korean Healthy Security Measures
Association (KHSMA), an advocacy group for war veterans, held a press
conference with foreign correspondents on May 27 in Seoul to condemn the use of
Agent Orange during the war in Vietnam and protest the lack of compensation
from the US administration for all the victims in the Republic of Korea (RoK)
of the toxic chemical.
At the event, KHSMA Chairman Kim Sung-woong said that the
association aimed to receive the unpaid combat allowances that should have been
granted to RoK veterans at least five decades ago.
Millions of people are known to have been exposed to toxic
chemicals, used by the US forces during the war in Vietnam, suffering from
deadly diseases such as cancers, nerve disorders, skin disorders, and birth
defects.
Speaking at the press conference, Kim said up to 240,000
veterans of the US and some other countries who fought in the war in Vietnam
received compensation worth 3,700 USD each, yet there were no combat allowances
for the 23,000 AO victims in the RoK.
He underlined that AO is a chemical weapon and the use of it
in the war in Vietnam was a crime against humanity. As many as 26 AO victims of
the RoK filed a lawsuit to a US court in July 1994, yet the lawsuit was
rejected and there was no compensation given.
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