Originally and technically known as the 6.25 Incident Participation Medal (Presidential decree #390; 6.25 stands for June 25, 1950, the date of the beginning of the North Korean invasion into South Korea.

Only the South Korean-provided medal is approved by the US government to meet the US criteria for wear on military uniforms.

On April 6, 2017, the Korean War Service Medal was authorized for acceptance and approved for wear, by the Governor-General of Australia.

This was based on regulations of the time which curtailed the acceptance and wear of foreign decorations on US military uniforms; the US Congress changed the law on May 8, 1954.

At that time the Army noted that it could find no record that the South Korean government ever offered the medal to the Department of Defense.

The task of issuing the medal was assigned to Randolph Air Force Base while the National Personnel Records Center was responsible for providing documentation to verify eligibility and updating military records to show receipt of the award.