Do we need caution on FedEx package?
By Jun Ji-hye
Next time when you receive a FedEx package, you had better wear latex lab gloves before touching it.
Such an extreme precaution may be not entirely warranted, but a recent incident may tempt people to give it serious thought.
The incident involved the delivery of anthrax samples by the world’s top package courier to 18 labs in the United States and an American military base here.
According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, FedEx has been used to carry samples from Dugway Proving Ground, the chemical weapons testing site opened more than 70 years ago in a desolate stretch of desert in Utah.
Rep. Jin Sung-joon of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) told The Korea Times, Sunday, “I cannot repress my astonishment that one of the most hazardous materials, which can be used in biochemical weapons, has been delivered by a private delivery company. It shows how poor the military management system is.”
Noting that the U.S. had maintained that the latest incident was a mistake, Jin argued that the Korean government needs to check out how often and how long such samples — alive or dead — have been coming in and out of South Korea through the private company.
“The government must find out whether there was any problem involving the delivery,” he said.
U.S. Republican Congressman Peter King (New York) was also quoted as saying, “I would have thought this would be the most highly secured and the most highly protected product.”
The former chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security told MSNBC it was unacceptable to allow anyone — FedEx employees or any employees on the receiving end at labs or companies — to have access, or to allow for mistakes in shipping.
Online community users have also joined in the criticism.
One user with the ID “jesu****” said, “Inhalation anthrax has a fatality rate ranging from 75 to 95 percent. How could live samples be sent by a private delivery along with ordinary parcels?”
ID “bkh7****” argued: “It was an unbelievable mistaken shipment. Everything would be ruined if the samples were spread by mistake.”
About 50 civic groups, including Green Korea, gathered near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul Friday, calling on the two governments to find out the truth behind the shocking incident.
FedEx public relations officials said the cargo arrived at its destinations safely, and the company was sure there was no risk to its employees and customers.
According to the United States Forces Korea (USFK), 22 lab personnel at its Osan Air Base, south of Seoul, may have been exposed to the anthrax during training Wednesday. They got treatment such as the administration of antibiotics for possible exposure, and none have shown any symptoms of infection so far.
The USFK explained that the sample, which was expected to be inert and harmless, was used in a training laboratory environment by laboratory personnel at the base involved in the Joint USFK Portal and Integrated Threat Recognition Program.
As the controversy has escalated here, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter made an official apology, Saturday, during a meeting with his South Korean counterpart Han Min-koo in Singapore.
For his part, U.S. Gen. Ray Odierno, Army chief of staff, explained from Washington, Thursday, that human error probably was not a factor in the mistaken shipment, noting that the problem may have been a failure in the technical process of killing, or inactivating, anthrax samples.
Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye