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US embassy in SKorea receives suspicious package

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-25 19:15

SEOUL, South Korea -- An official says the US Embassy in Seoul has received a package containing a suspicious white powder.

Protesters chant slogans during a candlelight vigil on a street leading to the US embassy and the presidential Blue House in central Seoul June 10, 2008. An official says the US Embassy in Seoul has received a package containing a suspicious white powder. [Agencies]

Spokesman Aaron Tarver said the embassy received the package Wednesday, and a sample of the powder was being tested. Tarver said no one was reported sickened.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the substance was not anthrax nor the deadly poison ricin, both of which have been used in mail attacks in the US Additional tests are being conducted with results expected in the next few days.

Last week, the FBI said eight US embassies in Europe received letters containing a white powder in what the agency called a hoax. It said governors' offices in more than 40 US states had received similar letters recently.