The U.S. Defense Department rejected accusations that U.S. Forces Korea lied about a record of anthrax shipments to South Korea, claiming that the first anthrax-involved training mentioned in a May press release meant the first such training only at Osan Air Base.
  

USFK came under fire after a joint Korea-U.S. working group found that USFK brought anthrax test samples into South Korea 16 times since 2009 as part of its bio-defense tests in South Korea, including the latest shipment in April of potentially live anthrax spores.
  

The finding appeared to contradict what USFK said in a May 29 press release that the live anthrax sample was brought in as part of the Joint USFK Portal and Integrated Threat Recognition Program at Osan Air Base and that it was "the first time the training has been conducted."
  

"Following the inadvertent delivery of potentially live Bacillus anthracis, the 51st Fighter Wing at Osan Air Base correctly informed the public in the Osan area that the shipment supported the first Joint U.S. Forces Korea Portal and Integrated Threat Recognition program's training at that location," Cmdr. Bill Urban, a Pentagon spokesman, told Yonhap News Agency.
  

"USFK clearly stated to the Republic of Korea and the public that biological defense equipment reliability testing and operator training have been active since 2009, and were ongoing," he said.
  

The official also said that the joint investigation team found that South Korea-U.S. biological defense cooperation makes "a critical contribution to South Korea's defense against the North Korean biological threat."
  

"Furthermore, USFK has agreed through the Joint Working Group to take additional steps requested by the ROK government to ensure the continued safe and effective development of biological defense cooperation," he said.
  

In late May, the Pentagon announced that a Department of Defense lab in Utah sent live anthrax samples to laboratories in nine U.S. states, as well as an American military base in South Korea. Further mistaken shipments have since been revealed, bringing the total to 194 in the U.S. and nine in foreign countries.
  

The bacteria should have been made inactive before being shipped.
  

Anthrax is a lethal disease caused by Bacillus anthracis, but the term is commonly used to refer to the causative agent itself. In 2001, anthrax-laced letters were mailed to U.S. news media and Senate offices, killing five people. (Yonhap)