After the end of World War , Vietnam was divided into two. With the Cold War era opening, South Vietnam and North Vietnam both had the idea of annexing each other, so the Vietnam War broke out. After all, this war is just a game between big powers. The final outcome of this war that lasted for twenty years was the victory of North Vietnam. The United States also suffered huge economic losses because it was deeply mired in the Vietnam War .
However, when we took a closer look at this war, we found that there is a very shameless country, and it is South Korea. As early as 2008, South Korea published an article about sending troops to Vietnam to escape poverty with blood. This allowed the world to understand why South Korea was so active when the United States enlisted its allies to send troops to Vietnam.
So the question is, why did South Korea take the initiative to send troops to Vietnam?
And what is the purpose behind this?
and what is it about using blood to get rid of poverty?
In this issue, let’s learn together with you what South Korea gained in the Vietnam War.
South Korea was the biggest accomplice of the United States in the Vietnam War
After the outbreak of the Vietnam War, the United States wanted to internationalize the Vietnam War. They continued to implement the tradition of Korean War , which was to attract allies to join the war. such as Australia, New Zealand , Philippines and other countries, but these countries are just meaning. After all, World War II had just ended and construction needed to be carried out. After the war started, the United Kingdom, Canada, France and other countries chose to remain neutral and watch the action from afar.
However, South Korea has become the biggest accomplice of the United States. Since the beginning of the Vietnam War, South Korea has sent troops. Until 1973, the country had dispatched nearly 320,000 troops to Vietnam. What is this concept? After the Korean War, South Korea's total military strength was only about 650,000. In other words, in order to actively respond to the call of the United States, the country dispatched more than half of its troops to Vietnam. This operation also led the outside world to believe that South Korea took the initiative to send troops because it was afraid that the United States would withdraw US troops stationed in South Korea, thereby weakening South Korea's defense capabilities.
However, the latest US diplomatic files prove that it was South Korea that sent troops to Vietnam, and it was the authorities Park Chung-hee who created a favorable diplomatic strategy for South Korea's economic development. After this war, the bonus brought to South Korea by the Vietnam War was worth every penny. As the saying goes, war can destroy a country, but it can also make a country rich and powerful. There are countless examples in history of people who have relied on war to get rich. The United States is the simplest example. From World War to World War II, the United States used these two world wars to become a world power. So what benefits will South Korea bring to Vietnam by sending troops to Vietnam?
When the Vietnam War broke out, why did South Korea take the initiative to volunteer and send 300,000 troops to participate in the war?
In 1961, the United States launched a war in Vietnam and attempted to pacify Vietnam within 18 months. But at that time, big changes took place in the country. At that time, the then US President Kennedy was assassinated and the vice president became interim president. Afterwards, the Tonkin Gulf Incident was created, which further expanded the war. Four years later, the United States announced that it would officially send troops to attack North Vietnam, while adopting the tradition of drawing allies. But other countries are all mean, but South Korea, as an ally of the United States in Asia, has been very active. As early as the Rhee Syngman administration, he had repeatedly made suggestions to the US President Eisenhower's administration to send troops. However, at that time, the U.S. government's policy toward Vietnam was not direct military intervention, so it rejected Rhee's request.
Until 1961, after Park Chung-hee came to power, he started talks with the United States. During this period, South Korea expressed its willingness to send troops to Vietnam for the United States, and also claimed that if the United States did not want South Korean troops to go, it could also recruit volunteers. From this point of view, South Korea is a living loser. But looking back at the attitude of the United States, it neither refused nor agreed. Park Chung-hee’s idea of sending troops to Vietnam also proves that he is a mature and sophisticated politician.
Park Chung-hee had five purposes in sending troops to Vietnam. First, cater to the needs of Americans, enhance their favor , prevent the US military from reducing South Korean troops and withdrawing US troops from South Korea, stabilize the security treaty between South Korea and the United States, and avoid falling out of favor. The second is to closely connect Vietnam and South Korea so that the United States will not ignore South Korea while being deeply involved in the Vietnam War. Third, improve the cohesion of the country. Fourth, transfer acute domestic conflicts. We all know that Park Chung-hee came to power through the 516 military coup, and this behavior will affect the relationship between South Korea and the United States. After all, he came to power through a military coup, his reputation was not justified, and his words were inconsistent. Therefore, Park Chung-hee hopes that by actively responding to the call of the United States, he can consolidate his regime and stabilize the South Korea-US alliance.
In addition, Park Chung-hee is a soldier. Through this dispatch of troops, the combat effectiveness of the army can also be quickly improved, as well as the modernization level of the Korean army. At the expense of South Korea sending troops to Vietnam, the United States will inevitably provide the military equipment needed for the modernization of the South Korean army, and will also increase assistance to South Korea. South Korea can also get rid of poverty by actively sending troops to Vietnam. By sending troops, it can increase its bargaining power with the United States on economic aid issues. This was also the main goal of South Korea's initiative to send troops to Vietnam. As the largest economy at the time, the United States had vigorously supported Japan during the Korean War, causing the country's economy to take off. Therefore, Park Chung-hee will use this opportunity to send troops to Vietnam to inject new development vitality into the South Korean economy.
When South Korea sent 320,000 troops to Vietnam, what benefits did it bring to South Korea?
As mentioned earlier, from 1964 to 1973, the total number of South Korean troops sent to Vietnam was as high as 320,000. Such efforts by the Koreans will inevitably bring more benefits to the US aid. Although it did not make any requests to the United States when it first sent troops, as the Vietnam War continued to expand, South Korea made demands. The United States increased its military budget for the Korean army and supported a series of commitments such as expanding aid to South Korea. In 1964, the U.S. government also promised to provide agricultural products to South Korea and postpone a $100 million transfer plan to the South Korean military. It also provides the South Korean troops with necessary transportation equipment, military equipment, wages and allowances. What this disguises is that the United States spends money to support these soldiers and also helps South Korea improve its domestic living conditions.
After tasting the benefits of South Korea sending troops, the Americans felt that it was more cost-effective to pay South Korean troops to do things than to send troops themselves. So in 1965, the two countries began negotiations to send troops. South Korea also expressed its cooperation, claiming that as long as the money is in place, South Korean soldiers will always be on standby. In the same year, South Korea dispatched the Tiger Force and Blue Dragon Force. The condition for sending troops is that the United States continues to provide military assistance to South Korea and provide financial support for South Korea's economic development. The United States not only agreed, but even stated that it would give the green light to the modernization of the South Korean military. Then in the second year, the United States spent 3 billion won on troop dispatch expenses, 4.6 billion won on ground rent for US troops stationed in South Korea, and 10 million US dollars in financial aid, asking South Korea to send the 9th Infantry Division to Vietnam. After that, the United States spent another 400 million US dollars to obtain a South Korean Marine Corps of less than 3,000 troops.
Spend money to make the South Korean army work hard so that Americans will die less. This will naturally gain the support of the US government. All materials and manpower needed for the Vietnam battlefield must be allocated from South Korea. This has also caused South Korea's exports to Vietnam to surge. If the remuneration of soldiers and laborers, as well as the wages of local Korean companies, are added together, the total is about 1 billion US dollars in foreign exchange . This money has also become the main source of funding for South Korea's five-year development plan. However, it is understood that in the year 1967, South Korea's war-related income accounted for 4% of the country's GDP1 and 20% of its foreign exchange income.
From 1965 to 1973, the United States provided assistance worth more than 8 trillion US dollars to South Korea, half of which was a concession made by the United States to send troops to South Korea.. In addition, in the ten years since South Korea sent troops to Vietnam, the country's economy has maintained a growth rate of 10%, ranking first in the world. All in all, South Korea's dispatch of troops to Vietnam has brought huge economic benefits to the country. This war also allowed South Korea to complete its transformation, strengthen its economy and military, and with the help of the Vietnam War, it became one of the four Asian Tigers.
But these prosperity were obtained through bloodshed and sacrifice. In this war, approximately thousands of South Korean officers and soldiers died in other places, and tens of thousands were seriously injured. The Agent Orange sprayed by the US military also caused incurable pain to the Korean soldiers who participated in the war. This also confirms what was said at the beginning that South Korea sent troops to Vietnam to get rid of poverty with blood. What else do you have to say about this? You may wish to leave a message in the comment area to discuss, and we will see you in the next issue.
