Korea DMZ and Thailand Agent Orange: Locations and Dates, Not "Vietnam-Era"

This is not a Vietnam, Blue Water, or Camp Lejeune article. "I was in during the Vietnam era" does no work.

The rule is a map, not a decade

The presumption is built from three pieces:

1. Qualifying location and dates.
2. A current diagnosis VA treats as an herbicide-associated disease.
3. The disease rules in 38 CFR 3.307 and 3.309, plus what VA.gov is actually granting under the PACT Act statute.

Miss the location or the dates and you are not in the presumption. Direct exposure with evidence is a different, harder fight. The disease list lives on VA.gov. I am not dumping the roster here.

Korea DMZ: two date windows you have to hold at once

VA Public Health and the main VA.gov Agent Orange page currently say this:

Veterans who served in a unit in or near the Korean demilitarized zone anytime between September 1, 1967, and August 31, 1971 are presumed to have been exposed to herbicides. VA and the Department of War (VA's current name for DoD on that page) must determine that the veteran's unit operated in the DMZ area and that the veteran was physically there.

That September 1, 1967 start date also appears in 38 U.S.C. 1116B, the Korea-specific statute.

Live 38 CFR 3.307(a)(6)(iv), pulled from eCFR on the 2026-08-10 issue, still says something narrower:

A veteran who served between April 1, 1968, and August 31, 1971, in a unit that, as determined by the Department of Defense, operated in or near the Korean DMZ in an area in which herbicides are known to have been applied during that period, shall be presumed to have been exposed to an herbicide agent, unless there is affirmative evidence the veteran was not exposed.

So the live regulation still uses the later start date and still talks in unit-and-DoD-determination language. VA.gov uses the statutory window that starts four months earlier.

If your Korea time is after April 1, 1968, the two sources agree on the window. If your Korea time is September 1967 through March 1968, the statute and VA.gov are broader than the live CFR text. That is not a trick. It is a real source conflict. Put the dates from your 201 file next to both texts before anyone tells you "Korea is Korea."

What "in or near the DMZ" is not

It is not "I was stationed in Korea" and it is not R&R in Seoul. VA Public Health is blunt: the unit had to operate in the DMZ area, and you had to be physically there. Live 3.307(a)(6)(iv) requires a unit DoD determined operated in or near the DMZ where herbicides were applied. A southern Korea assignment with no DMZ operation is not that sentence. Actual exposure can still be proved. That is evidence work, not a presumption.

Thailand: the PACT Act version is the whole base

The old Thailand story is the perimeter story: security police on the fence, everyone else told to sit down. That is not what VA.gov says now.

VA Public Health and the main Agent Orange compensation page currently presume exposure for veterans who served on any U.S. or Royal Thai military base in Thailand from January 9, 1962, through June 30, 1976.

38 U.S.C. 1116, as amended by the PACT Act, says the same idea in statute language: service in Thailand at any United States or Royal Thai base during that period, without regard to where on the base the veteran was located or what military job specialty the veteran performed.

Live 38 CFR 3.307, same 2026-08-10 pull, still does not mention Thailand. The implementing regulation has not caught the statute. VA.gov has. Board decisions are already granting Thailand herbicide claims under the statute. If someone quotes you the old perimeter-only M21 language as if it is still the only rule, ask them which year they last opened VA.gov.

What Thailand evidence actually looks like

You are proving presence on a U.S. or Royal Thai base in the date window: DD214, orders to a named base, performance or medical entries, or a checkable buddy statement. A story with no date and no base name is just a story. You do not need a spray-tank photo. Current VA.gov is service on the base in the window.

Location and date table (not a rating table)

These are exposure windows, not disability percentages. Ratings come from the disease's own diagnostic code.

The disease list is on VA.gov. Use it.

Once exposure is presumed, VA still needs a current diagnosis it treats as herbicide-associated. VA.gov lists those illnesses, including type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Live 38 CFR 3.309(e) still has not been rewritten to match every PACT Act addition. Hypertension is the clean example: VA.gov lists it; live 3.309(e) still does not. Confirm the diagnosis against current VA.gov and current eCFR, then rate that disease under its own code. A disease off the list is a direct-nexus claim, not a dead claim.

Evidence that actually moves the file

For Korea:

• Orders, morning reports, or personnel entries that name the unit and the DMZ-area assignment.
• Dates that sit inside the window you are claiming.
• Something that puts you, not just the unit patch, in that area.
• A current diagnosis on the VA.gov herbicide list, or a medical opinion if it is not.

For Thailand:

• Base name and dates.
• Proof you were on that base, not "somewhere in SEA."
• The same disease evidence as any other herbicide claim.

For both, read any old rating decision. Many Thailand denials are perimeter denials. Many Korea denials are "not a recognized unit" denials. Those reasons may be stale. They may still be right. Send the page that shows where you were and when, not a 200-page documentary.

What the C&P actually measures here

There is no "Korea C&P" and no "Thailand C&P." The exam is for the disease you claimed. Diabetes is a 7913 treatment exam. Hypertension is a 7101 reading exam. The examiner is not grading your war story and will not rewrite your personnel file. Location and dates are a records question.

No magic words. "I was exposed" is not a location. "Vietnam-era" is not a date.

Quick answers

I served in Korea in 1972. Does the DMZ presumption cover me?

Not under the current VA.gov window or the live CFR window. Both end August 31, 1971. Later Korea service can still be a direct-exposure claim if the evidence shows actual herbicide contact. That is not the presumption.

I was a clerk on a Thai base, not security police. Does that still count?

Current VA.gov and 38 U.S.C. 1116 do not require a fence-line MOS or a perimeter assignment. They require service on a U.S. or Royal Thai base in the January 9, 1962, through June 30, 1976 window. Live 3.307 still does not list Thailand, so confirm against current VA.gov and your notice.

What if my unit is not on a "recognized DMZ unit" list?

VA Public Health still requires a VA and Department of War determination that the unit operated in the DMZ area and that you were physically there. Live 3.307(a)(6)(iv) is unit-based. If the unit is not recognized, the file needs evidence the unit actually operated there, or evidence of your own presence, or both. A patch is not a determination.

Do I have to prove I touched a drum?

Not if you are inside a current presumption of exposure. You still have to prove the service facts that trigger it, and you still need a current qualifying disease.

Where is the disease list?

VA.gov's Agent Orange compensation page. Public Health also maintains condition pages. I am not reprinting the roster here because it changes, and because this post is about location and dates.

I was denied years ago on a Thailand perimeter theory. Is that the last word?

A past denial is a past decision. If the location rule changed, a supplemental claim is how that gets reviewed. No outcome is promised. Read the old reasons-and-bases first.

Sources

• 38 CFR 3.307(a)(6) (herbicide exposure, including Korea DMZ unit rule): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-38/part-3/section-3.307
• 38 CFR 3.309(e) (herbicide-associated diseases in the live regulation): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-38/part-3/section-3.309
• 38 U.S.C. 1116 (PACT Act Thailand and other covered service)
• 38 U.S.C. 1116B (Korea DMZ statutory window, Sept. 1, 1967 to Aug. 31, 1971)
• VA.gov Agent Orange compensation page (locations, dates, current disease list): https://www.va.gov/disability/eligibility/hazardous-materials-exposure/agent-orange/
• VA Public Health, Korean DMZ: https://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/locations/korea.asp
• VA Public Health, Thailand military bases: https://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/locations/thailand.asp
• VA Public Health, exposure by location: https://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/locations/index.asp

Educational content only. Not legal or medical advice. Confirm against the veteran's actual notice and current eCFR / VA.gov. For claim-specific help, use a VA-accredited VSO, claims agent, or attorney.