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S. Korea, U.S. set for 1st meeting to probe anthrax shipment

South Korea and the United States were to hold their first joint meeting on Wednesday to look into the accidental shipment of the U.S. military's live anthrax sample to the Asian country in April, the Ministry of National Defense said.

This is the first gathering of South Korean and U.S. officials dealing with the delivery mishap since the countries launched a joint working group earlier this month to look into the case.

The Pentagon said in May that live anthrax samples were accidentally sent from a military laboratory in Utah to other labs in the U.S. and several foreign countries in April, including to a military lab in the Osan Air Base, south of Seoul.

To be discussed in the Wednesday meeting are an on-site investigation at the Osan Air Base, originally slated for sometime this month, and the methods of investigations, the ministry said.

Amid growing public outcry over the inbound shipment of the lethal bacterium, the defense ministry here vowed fact-finding efforts last week, including an on-site probe of the military lab.

Major differences linger between the South Korean and U.S. sides, however, over the details and the schedule of the on-site probe plan. South Korea wants related documents, video and photo data from the U.S. side as evidence, but the U.S. is maintaining that most of the relevant documents have already been destroyed.

The U.S. also wants to limit the scope of the on-site inspection, according to ministry sources.

The two sides are "discussing ways to reach an agreement on the schedules of the visit to the Osan base and the joint investigation in the forthcoming meeting," a government official said, asking not to be named. (Yonhap)