The Pentagon has said the South Korean military decided to use defoliants supplied by the US because vegetation in the demilitarised zone could conceal North Korean infiltration forces. But the defence ministry here strongly denied that assertion, saying Agent Orange and other deadly defoliants were sprayed at the initiative of US forces stationed in South Korea.

"The US forces in Korea, in consideration of difficulties in guarding the demilitarised zone, consulted with the South Korean government on using the defoliants through the US State Department and obtained approval," Brigadier General Kim Tae-Young told journalists.

Kim added that "at the time, thetop commander of the operation for spreading defoliants was commander of the US Eighth Army". Kim, who is also head of the defence ministry's policy planning bureau said it was "highly possible" that South Korean soldiers were mobilised to spray the defoliants in the demilitarised zone between the two Koreas because US forces were "extremely abhorrent" of incidental encounters with North Korean soldiers.

Agent Orange was widely used by US forces during the Vietnam War and has been linked to cancers of the lymph glands, lungs, and skin, as well as congenital birth defects. "Neither South Korean nor US troops realised at the time that it was so detrimental to the human body," defence minister Cho Sung-Tae told parliament on Wednesday.

South Korean officials noted that the US-South Korea Combined Forces Command, which was headed by a US general, had command over all Seoul troops and was in charge of the explosive Cold War frontier.

Kim said about 2,24,000 litres of "herbicide," including 21,000 gallons ofAgent Orange, were deployed in the demilitarised zone in 1968 and 1969. He stressed the amount was 0.3 percent of the total used by the US military during the Vietnam War, and that the risk of contamination was much lower because the chemicals were sprayed from the ground instead of from the air.

However, the South Korean government will accept reports from suspected victims of the defoliants for possible compensation, he said. The Munhwa Daily newspaper quoted a retired officer, identified only as Major Lee, as saying he took part in defoliant spraying while serving in chemical units in Paju and Yangku counties between 1968 and 1971. "My daughter was born with congenital defects in 1969," he said. He said a high number of former officers in chemical units were sick. "Up until very recent days, we never thought this was because of defoliants as we believed we were spreading simple herbicide," he said.

Yonhap News Agency said the issue will be on the agenda when defence minister Cho meets with USdefence secretary William Cohen for top-level security talks in Washington next week.