The Korean Supreme Court has ruled that chemical companies Monsanto and Dow Chemical must pay 39 Korean Vietnam War veterans $415,000 for certain skin diseases they suffered when they came into contact with the defoliant Agent Orange.

According to a story from Agence France-Presse, the court also sent back to a lower court for review, a 2006 case that ordered the U.S. firms to pay a total of 63 billion ($61 million) in compensation to 6,795 South Korean veterans and their families.

The veterans who won the court ruling had complained that Agent Orange was responsible for skin diseases such as "chemical acne," shown to be caused by exposure to the dioxin in Agent Orange.

South Korea sent some 300,000 troops to fight with the United States and South Vietnam during the war.

Veterans in South Korea estimate the number of Korean victims of Agent Orange at about 150,000

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