Public health body seeking stronger control measures after unauthorized shipment of anthrax came into South Korea

The Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), affiliated with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated that Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) should be revised to require the US military to notify South Korea’s health authorities before bringing anthrax and other dangerous pathogens into the country, the Hankyoreh confirmed on July 7.

Notably, this is the first time that a South Korean government agency has proposed revising SOFA in connection with the recent scandal in which the US military brought live anthrax into South Korea without authorization to conduct experiments .

The CDC’s proposed revision does not ask for the authority to allow or reject the shipment of such pathogens into the country - unlike the US’s agreement with Germany - leading some critics to argue that it is not adequate to ensure public safety.

According to an opinion paper about revising SOFA that Justice Party lawmaker Jung Jin-hu received from the CDC and made public on Tuesday, the CDC said that a clause should be added to the section of SOFA dealing with health and hygiene that would require the US military to notify the South Korean medical authorities before bringing certain substances onto US military bases in South Korea - including highly dangerous pathogens listed in South Korea’s Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act and genetically modified pathogenic microorganisms that must be controlled by the government according to the Act on Genetically Modified Organisms.

Currently, this section of SOFA only contains three provisions: immediately informing South Korea of the outbreak of any disease that requires quarantine, carrying out joint inspections of food products, and providing information about patients with AIDS. The CDC argues that the US military should also be required to notify the South Korean government before it brings anthrax and other deadly germs into the country.

The CDC proposed the revision during a July 10 meeting of ten related government agencies affected by the US military’s accidental shipment of live anthrax, which was attended by officials from the Foreign Ministry, the Defense Ministry, and the Customs Service.

While the CDC’s proposed revisions are a major step forward, they still would not force the US military to receive separate approval from the South Korean government. Critics say that even if SOFA is changed as CDC has requested, the US could still bring anthrax into the country as long as it notified the South Korean government of its plans.

In order to effectively guarantee the right to inspect items being brought into the country, the South Korean government also needs to have the authority to approve or reject them, but such a demand is not included in the proposed revision.

“The fact that the CDC did not even ask for the authority to approve these shipments in advance reflects a groveling attitude. Germany’s agreement with the US military states that toxic materials like anthrax cannot be brought into Germany without the consent of the German government. South Korea also needs to update SOFA to give it the authority to approve these shipments,” Jung said.

“We are still discussing measures for preventing a reoccurrence of the accident, and the CDC’s proposed revision to SOFA has not been confirmed yet,” said Shin Jae-hyeon, chief of North American affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and South Korea’s chair on the SOFA joint committee.

　

By Kim Ji-hoon, staff reporter

　

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