Korea－U.S. to set guidelines to regulate biological samples coming in to Korea

미군, 한국서 16차례 탄저균 실험…"올해 처음" 주장 '거짓' It was back in April... when we learned that U.S. Army facilities mistakenly shipped live anthrax bacteria to an air base in South Korea. A joint South Korea－U.S. working group was established back then and has been investigating the case... after 8 months of investigation， the team has found that this type of shipments happened not once or twice， but more than a DOZEN times. The joint investigation team released a new set of guidelines， effective immediately， regarding shipments of biological samples from the U.S. to this country. Our national defense correspondent Kim Hyun－bin joins us from the defense ministry. So Hyun－bin HOW did live anthrax end up being shipped to Korea in the first place？ Well Connyoung， the ministry says that shipments of samples are part of the allies′ bio－defense programs against North Korea′s growing biological threats， but the shipment of a live sample in April to the Osan base was done by mistake. Korea and the U.S. have agreed on establishing a new set of guidelines to regulate U.S. Forces Korea′s shipments of live biochemical samples entering Korea. This comes after a live anthrax sample was mistakenly sent to the USFK biochemical laboratory at Osan Air base in April. Since then a joint Korea－U.S. working group was formed to look into whether the anthrax sample was properly handled， as well as measures that can prevent similar cases from happening. ″At no time were ROK or U.S. personnel in any danger of exposure， as a result of our compliance with established safety procedures. The Bacillus anthracis sample was safely packaged by the U.S. Department of Defense； shipped by Federal Express； and， stored， handled， and destroyed by USFK in accordance with established safety procedures.″ But this wasn′t the first time the USFK brought in anthrax samples to the country. Initially the USFK told Korea in May that only one anthrax sample had entered the country， but Korea′s defense ministry revealed for the first time on Thursday that a total of 16 samples have been shipped since 2009 including the one in April. ″It was also confirmed that anthrax test samples were shipped to Korea 15 times from 2009 to 2014 for the purpose of equipment testing and proficiency training.″ The new guidelines will allow to jointly search any biochemical package coming into the country. ″The recommendation includes a notification process with information such as the shipping and receiving organization， the type， purpose， and quantity of the sample， method of transport and so on.″ The guidelines， which went immediately into effect， were signed during the biannual joint committee meeting of SOFA on Thursday. General Jang stressed the importance to continue allies bio－defense programs asNorth Korea is presumed to possess 13 types of biological agents and that it could be used for terrorism or during an all－out－war. Visit ‘Arirang News’ Official Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/newsarirang