From Seoul to Saigon: United States-Korean relations and the Vietnam War

This analysis focuses on U.S.-Korean relations during the Vietnam era. More specifically it examines the economic, military and diplomatic impact of South Korea's participation in the Vietnam War. Throughout the course of the war President Lyndon Johnson was eager for allied military support because he wanted to present the conflict as an international struggle against Communism as well as lessen the burden facing American forces. Although a handful of other nations sent troops to South Vietnam, no other country committed as many troops to the conflict as South Korea. By 1968 there were approximately 50,000 Republic of Korea (ROK) troops in Vietnam Altogether, more than 300,000 Korean troops served in Vietnam between 1964 and 1972.; In return for their participation in Vietnam, the U.S. granted South Korea military and economic concessions. First the United States increased its direct economic and military aid packages to South Korea, and more importantly from the standpoint of long-term economic growth, the U.S. agreed to award more of its wartime procurement contracts to South Korean businesses and firms. However, at the same time that South Korea was increasing its military commitments in Vietnam, it was facing the most serious military threat from North Korea since the end of the Korean War. During the late 1960s North Korean commando raids and violence across the DMZ increased tenfold, and included attacks on American military personnel (the U.S. S. Pueblo and EC-121 Plane Incidents) and the attempted assassination of the South Korean president.; The purpose of this study then is threefold: first to examine the military and economic alliance between the United States and South Korea, which permitted the introduction of ROK forces into South Vietnam. Second, to determine not only Seoul's motives but also the international consequences of South Korea's military involvement in Vietnam. Finally, this study attempts to determine what impact all of this may have had on North Korean behavior toward the U.S. and South Korea during the Vietnam era. This analysis also seeks to place these events into the larger context of America's Cold War policy in East Asia.