Cases / Law, regulation and treaties · South Korea · 2020
South Korea agrees to pay first for cleanup of 12 returned US bases
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
In December 2020 South Korea and the United States agreed at a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) meeting that the Korean government would bear cleanup costs first for 12 returned bases. The arrangement leaves the initial cost of contamination with the host state.
What?
Cleanup costs of 12 US bases returned under the SOFA were taken on first by the South Korean government. Hankyung
Where?
South Korea. Hankyung
When?
Agreed at a SOFA meeting; reported in December 2020. Hankyung
Who?
Gained
None on recordLost
- South Korean government — bears cleanup costs first for 12 returned bases Hankyung
Harmed
None on recordWhy?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
A SOFA meeting agreement set the Korean government as first payer of cleanup costs for returned bases. Hankyung
6 of 6 questions answered from the record
What happened
The record, in order.
Hankyung reported in December 2020 that the United States and South Korea agreed at a SOFA meeting that the Korean government would bear cleanup costs first.
The arrangement covered 12 bases returned under the SOFA.
In court and with insurers
Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.
Lawsuits and rulings
No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.
Insurers
No insurer decision on record.
What we don't know
Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- None on record The sources reviewed do not name the bases, the contamination found or the cleanup amounts spent.
- None on record The sources reviewed do not say whether the United States later shared or reimbursed the costs.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: SOFA agreements take foreign bases out of host-country environmental oversight; the reference cited has no link in the sources reviewed.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers
Press and investigations
- 한미, SOFA회의서 합의…정부가 정화비용 우선 부담Hankyung · 2020-12
Connected cases
Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
- Bikini reef partly recovered after US nuclear tests; islanders still displaced Marshall Islands · 1946–2024
- Government of the United States (Government) — here: Party to the SOFA agreement; there: Conducted the 1946–1958 nuclear tests
- Panama asks US to clean up chemical weapons and munitions it left behind Panama · date not stated
- Government of the United States (Government) — here: Party to the SOFA agreement; there: Asked to clean up chemical weapons and munitions left in Panama
- Pollution at Subic and Clark linked to deaths; US says it has no clean-up duty Philippines · date not stated
- Government of the United States (Government) — here: Party to the SOFA agreement; there: Argues it has no clean-up obligation at Subic and Clark
- TC Energy's claim over Keystone XL cancellation dismissed for lack of jurisdiction United States · 2021–2024
- Government of the United States (Government) — here: Party to the SOFA agreement; there: respondent; permit cancelled