Lawmaker calls for drastic revision of forces agreement

By Jun Ji-hye

Rep. Jeong Jin-hoo

Rep. Jeong Jin-hoo of the Justice Party urged the government Tuesday to revise the South Korea-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) so the United States must get approval before bringing hazardous materials onto the Korean Peninsula.

The lawmaker from the progressive party argued that such revision is necessary to prevent a reoccurrence of the mistaken mailing of live anthrax samples.

The government is moving to ask the U.S. to notify the Korean government before any such delivery.

Jeong disclosed a document that the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sent to the foreign ministry, which is in charge of the bilateral SOFA agreement related to the presence of U.S. troops in Korea, June 8.

The document states that when the U.S. brings hazardous materials such as anthrax onto its bases in South Korea, it should notify the government in advance. The paper also states if any accidents happen, the U.S. should notify the government about what action it takes.

“The U.S. needs to provide Korea with prior information to enable the government to effectively respond to any possible public health crisis,” the document read.

Jeong argued that the revision should demand an approval in advance, not notification, as the latter would not help block the inflow of hazardous materials.

“The suggestion made by the CDC is just asking for notification, not approval,” the lawmaker said. “The government should get away from such humiliating diplomatic practices in which it just relies on information provided by Washington, and push for the revision of SOFA immediately.”

Live samples of anthrax were accidentally sent to the U.S. Forces Korea’s (USFK) Osan Air Base, south of Seoul, for testing in May.

According to the USFK, 22 lab workers at Osan may have been exposed to a suspected sample of anthrax during training, but none of them have shown any symptoms of infection.

Jeong claimed that the U.S. notified the CDC of the fact that it decontaminated a lab at Osan following the accident only by telephone.

“This case revealed how incompetent the government was about the inflow of the dangerous materials and the follow-up measures,” Jeong said.

The lawmaker also criticized Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn for taking a lukewarm attitude to the revision, even after the CDC delivered the suggestion to the ministry.

During a National Assembly interpellation on June 19, Hwang said in response to the question about the revision, “The government needs to wait and see the result of the investigation into the incident.”

Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye