US Defense Secretary apologizes for shipment of live anthrax to S. Korea

Posted on : 2015-06-01 16:27 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Calls are now coming for more communication from the US on what kinds of materials it brings onto S. Korean bases
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US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter made an official apology for the delivery of live anthrax to the Osan Air Force Base, which is operated by US forces in South Korea. But since Carter offered no explanation of why or how the incident had occurred, some are claiming that the apology was insincere.

A senior official with South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense said that Carter said he was “sorry” about the anthrax incident during a meeting with South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo on May 30, while the two were attending the Asia Security Summit (Shangri-La Dialogue) in Singapore.

According to the official, Carter said the US is investigating the accident and will promptly share the results with South Korea, and hold the guilty parties responsible and take measures to prevent this from reoccurring. The apology came two days after news of the accident broke on May 28.

The US appears to have been seriously concerned that the incident could provoke a conflict between the two countries. Initially, the US had not been planning to address the anthrax incident in the meeting. But after South Koreans involved in setting the agenda communicated the severity of the domestic response to the incident, the US reportedly decided to add the item to the agenda and express its regret.

The US appears to be concerned that the incident could cause anti-American sentiment in South Korea to spread as it did when two South Korean middle school girls were crushed to death by an US military vehicle during drills in 2002.

But since Carter only made an apology without providing any explanation about the cause of the accident, there is doubt about American willingness to provide additional information. Some argue that the US needs to disclose the entire process by which live anthrax was brought as far as South Korea. With the revelation that the US set up an anthrax laboratory at the Osan Air Force Base in South Korea in 1998 and has been operating it ever since, it is possible that such accidents have occurred before.

Others suggest a need to assess whether the US and South Korea are sharing enough intelligence about the biological and chemical weapons held by US forces in South Korea.

On May 31, a South Korean government official said that US and ROK forces do not notify each other of their military exercises, suggesting that the US military did not inform South Korea of its anthrax experiments. Many people believe that South Korea really ought to know when biological and chemical weapons are brought into the country, since these can pose a threat to public safety.

There are also some who think that, in order for Carter to prevent such an incident from reoccurring as he promised, it is necessary to revise the US-South Korea Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which currently blocks customs inspections of materials bound for the US military.

Others think that anthrax, even in its inactive state, ought to be added to the list of hazardous materials that the US must notify the South Korean government about before bringing them into the country.

 

By Kim Oi-hyun, staff reporter and Park Byong-su, senior staff writer in Singapore

 

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