South Korea's top court upholds Agent Orange payout

South Korea's highest court yesterday upheld a ruling ordering two US Agent Orange makers to compensate 39 Vietnam war veterans in one of the country's most prominent lawsuits.

The Supreme Court recognised the epidemiological correlation between the toxic defoliant and skin diseases for the first time, saying the 39 victims should receive a total of 466 million won (HK$3.21 million) from Dow Chemical and Monsanto.

The veterans had complained that Agent Orange was responsible for their severe skin diseases.

Payment is now up to the US firms, but Dow Chemical said in a statement, quoted by Yonhap news agency, that it disagrees with the court's decision as the verdict was not backed by clear evidence, citing US court rulings. The South Korean court also reversed an appeal court verdict that the two firms should compensate thousands of other veterans who claimed to have similarly suffered from exposure to defoliants used during the Vietnam war.

More than 16,000 veterans filed separate lawsuits in 1999 against the US firms, seeking about five trillion won in damages, but a district court ruled against them.

In 2006, an appeal court ordered the US firms to pay 63 billion won in compensation to 6,795 veterans and their families. But the Supreme Court in its latest ruling sent the case back to the appeal court for review.