South Korea in the Vietnam War
South Korea, which was at the time an authoritarian regime under its right-wing military dictator Park Chung Hee, took a major active role in the Vietnam War.
This included the climate of the Cold War, to further develop of South Korea–United States relations for economic and military support and political exigencies like anti-communism.
[1] Under the wartime alliance, the South Korean economy flourished, receiving tens of billions of dollars in grants, loans, subsidies, technology transfers, and preferential economic treatment.
[6] Park saw South Korea's participation in the war as a way to receive American dollars — valuable currency that was used to kick-start the country's industrial development.
[5] President John F. Kennedy rejected the previous offers because he hoped that the situation in Vietnam would not deteriorate to the point that South Korean troops were needed.
Dove Force was deployed to the Biên Hòa region of South Vietnam, and helped build schools, roads and bridges.
[20]: 99 Around the time of the Battle of An Khe Pass, ROK forces had more limited air-support, but remained until 1973 when all foreign troops withdrew due to the Paris Peace Accords.
[20]: 99 American war planners are alleged to have leaned heavily on ROK forces, given their ability to carry out missions with considerable success.
[25][26][27] Other commanders whom interacted with them were more critical and stated "Koreans made excessive demands for choppers and artillery support and that they stood down for too long after an operation.
While the Vietnam War constituted the first military action on foreign soil for the South Korean marines since their formation, they claimed to have proven themselves to be highly skilled and capable warriors.
[13] Non-combat and civilian support operation in the southern areas were well received, and included medical, antimalarial and surgery aid which also benefitted South Korea's public health knowledge.
[33] During the Vietnam War, the South Korean military provided 3,353,364 public health services, 1,640 tons of food, 461,764 points of clothing, 6,406 farm tools, and 3,319 bridges[34] This hearts and minds campaign received positive reporting.
[36] In other cases the Korean military and in particular engineering, medical and construction units put a great deal of effort into helping the people.
[42][43] Under the wartime alliance, the South Korean economy flourished, receiving tens of billions of dollars in grants, loans, subsidies, technology transfers, and preferential economic treatment from America.
[44] South Korea's economic success deterred the appeal and threat of communism domestically, furthering the stability of Park's rule.
He arrested his opposition, implemented martial law, and amended the constitution to allow himself to serve a third presidential term, bolstering the power of his regime.
[58] A separate refugee study by RAND authored by Terry Rambo, reported in a 1970 New York Times story, conducted interviews in early to mid 1966 in Phu Yen Province which confirmed that widespread war crimes had occurred.
They reported thousands of routine murders of primarily elderly, women, and children civilians as most men in these regions had been conscripted into the Viet Cong or the ARVN.
[60] The Associated Press (AP) in April 2000 investigated the purported Bình An/Tây Vinh massacre and stated that it "was unable to independently confirm their [the Vietnamese victims'] claims" and "an additional 653 civilians were allegedly killed the same year by South Korean troops in neighboring Quang Ngai and Phu Yen provinces, according to provincial and local officials interviewed by the AP on a trip the government took two months to approve.
[61] A Reuters story from January 2000 stated that: Three local officials, including one who said he survived the alleged killings, spoke at length about the events in Binh Dinh.
The officials, who declined to be identified, said that in early 1966, Korean troops entered what was then the Binh An commune, a collection of villages within Tay Son district that they believed was a Viet Cong stronghold.
A government official in Hanoi said central authorities had later investigated what happened at Binh Dinh and compiled detailed reports, which showed more than 1,000 people were killed during the period, about 380 of them at Go Dai.
[16] Koreans have claimed that war crimes committed by their forces stemmed from orders by Park Chung Hee to minimise casualties through practices such as hostage-taking.
The Korean Army responded to the case of General Seo Kyung-seok, decorated for winning a victory but found to have beaten a prisoner, by revoking his award.
In April 2020, a survivor of the Phong Nhi massacre alongside the Korea-Vietnam Peace Foundation filed a civil lawsuit in the court of South Korea against the Korean government in an effort to have a fact-finding mission convened.
[77][78] The issue around children conceived through wartime affairs and rape known as Lai Dai Han remains, like controversies around comfort women.
[80][81] Lai Dai Han and their families faced mistreatment following North Vietnam's victory for allegedly siding with opposing forces, including one rape victim's father being beaten to death by the communist regime shortly after the war ended.
In 2008, Lee Joon-ik produced a drama war film titled Sunny which follows a young woman who joins a band in order to find her husband who is sent off fighting in Vietnam.
