Dioxins… redux
I just wanted to update a post I wrote almost a year ago on attempts by victims of Agent Orange to get compensation from the chemical manufacturers that made it (Monsanto and Dow). It seems that despite the fact a Vietnamese lawsuit last year failed, a court in Korea has now ruled in favour of 6,800 Korean veterans of the Vietnam war. The high court in Seoul has ordered the two companies to pay $62 million in damages to the former soldiers. On the subject of last year’s failed case brought by Vietnamese victims the BBC article points out:
The chemical companies defending that case - including Dow Chemical and the Monsanto Corporation - argued that the US government was responsible for how the chemical was used, not the manufacturers.
This was despite a 1984 deal whereby several chemical companies paid $180m to settle a lawsuit brought by US war veterans, who said that their health had been affected by exposure to the substance.
Back to the present case. According to a story in the Korea Times, getting the money out of the US companies will be the hard part:
Although the ruling was hailed as a landmark victory for Korean war veterans, it is still not certain whether they will actually receive payment from the U.S. companies.
As both U.S. companies have no listed property in Korea it means there is little Korean authorities can do should they refuse to abide by the court ruling.
If the U.S. companies refuse to pay the plaintiffs, the Korean war veterans will have to take their legal battle to a U.S. court for possible compensation.
I discovered two more interesting articles at Oh My News International that also relate to this. The first is on the struggle of the Vietnamese victims of this form of chemical warfare. The second is a photo essay on the Korean veterans, documenting their protests.
