Mutual trust and confidence are essential for maintaining a robust military alliance like that of South Korea and the United States. The controversy over the U.S. military’s use of some biological warfare lab samples is extremely regrettable in this regard.

The key problem is that the U.S. side apparently lied about such a sensitive issue of bringing in biological samples into the country. It is truly disappointing that U.S. officials hid the fact that its military had been bringing in anthrax samples since 2009, even after the case of the Osan Base lab came to light in May this year.

Most disturbing was that we could have been kept in the dark if Osan had not been one of the laboratories inside and outside the U.S. that received in April what could have been a live sample of Bacillus anthracis, the agent for the lethal anthrax disease, from the U.S. army’s biological center.

The Pentagon said at the time that the sample, initially labeled “inactivated,” was one of many possibly live anthrax samples that the U.S. center accidentally sent to military labs at home and abroad.

It was also only during the recent South Korea-U.S. joint investigation that the USFK admitted that the anthrax sample delivered to Osan in April came with one inactive sample of Yersinia pestis – the bacterium that causes bubonic plague.

Things like these make one doubt the U.S. side’s assurance that there were no safety risks in the process of shipping in, testing and disposing of the sample delivered in April. Given the unimaginable consequences of any fatal mishaps involving biological samples, there should be very strict standards for working on them.

The two sides did well in this regard to work out guidelines on USFK’s handling of biological samples. The guidelines, which took effect immediately, requires USFK to report the type, quantity and purpose of any biological samples that they bring into the country.

Faithfully abiding by the guidelines is the minimum the U.S. military could do to restore trust by its South Korean counterpart and the general public as a whole.

The case also should provide an opportunity for the two allies to seek more efficient and effective ways to increase their cooperation in coping with chemical and biological threats from North Korea and potential terrorists.