39 veterans v. Monsanto and Dow Chemicals Reference : No description Complaint date : No description Status : Final judgment Place of jurisdiction : South Korea, Seoul Plaintiffs types : Individuals Plaintiffs names : X Defendants : Monsanto, Dow Chemical Lawyers for Health and Environmental Justice : No description Case nature : Civil court Type(s), Product(s), Active substance(s) : Herbicide, Agent orange Requests : Repairing the damage suffered by veterans as a result of exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War Name of the Court : Supreme Court of Seoul, South Korea Jurisdiction level : No description Decision date : July 12, 2013 Decision nature : Partially Positive Decision content : The Supreme Court considered the epidemiological correlation between this herbicide and the skin diseases developed by these former soldiers who fought alongside the Americans against the Vietcong to be proven. It ordered Monsanto and Dow Chemicals, producers of "Agent Orange", to pay them a total of 466 million won (around 315,000 euros) in compensation. Legal basis : No description Court Ruling : No description Summary : On July 12, 2013, the South Korean Supreme Court ordered the US companies Monsanto and Dow Chemicals, which manufactured and distributed Agent Orange, a powerful defoliant used by the US army during the Vietnam War, to pay compensation for the damage suffered by 39 veterans who developed skin diseases. In 2002, the Seoul Central District Court, seized in 1999 by 16,000 South Korean veterans claiming compensation of 3.4 billion euros for the health consequences of exposure to this product, rejected the claim. On appeal, the Seoul District Court recognized the toxicity of Agent Orange and ordered the two companies to compensate more than 6,000 South Korean veterans for a total of $61 million. In its 2013 ruling, the Korean courts finally ordered Monsanto and Dow Chemicals to compensate 39 veterans to the total tune of 315,000 euros. Only the epidemiological correlation between Agent Orange and the skin diseases developed by these former soldiers was thus upheld for the first time in South Korea. Scientific references : No scientifice reference for this case. Related links : Press article, Usine Nouvelle (2006) Press article, Le Monde (2013) Press article, France24 (2013) Press article, The Free thought project (2014)