Do you want to stay informed about this journal? Click the buttons to subscribe to our alerts.
Journey to Equality: The Establishment of the Relationship Between the United States and Republic of Korea Forces in the Vietnam War
In: Journal of American-East Asian RelationsAbstract
This article examines the problem of Operational Control (opcon) in the relationship the Republic of Korea Forces in Vietnam (rokfv) built with the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. When the rokfv deployed in Vietnam, they faced the dilemma of pursuing their own interests while maintaining a good relationship with U.S. forces. Therefore, the rokfv refused to fight under the opcon of U.S. forces, even though all rok troops remaining in South Korea were under U.S. opcon. Instead of arguing who would have opcon over the rokfv, the United States and the rok negotiated the establishment of a cooperative relationship. Although their opcon was not perfect at first, the rokfv nevertheless proved their military professionalism and achievements through securing areas and building company bases in their Vietnamese territories, rather than search-and-destroy operations, to achieve pacification. As a result, the rokfv built a parallel command in which the South Vietnamese, Americans, and South Koreans cooperated, which allowed them to carry out a Korean style of war under a more equal relationship with U.S. forces.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Bud Harton Collection. Presidential Archives Research. Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive. Texas Tech University. Lubbock, Texas.
-
Carland, John M. Combat Operations: Stemming the Tide, May 1965 to October 1966. Washington, DC: Center of Military History, U.S. Army, 2000.
-
Ch’ae Myŏng-sin. Pet’ŭnamjŏnjaenggwana [The Vietnam War and I]. Seoul: P’albogwŏn, 2006.
-
Ch’ae Myŏng-sin. “Pet’ŭnamjŏnjaengŭit’ŭksŏnggwayŏnhapchakchŏn” [“The Characteristic of Vietnam War and Combined Operations”]. Pet’ŭnamjŏnjaengyŏn’guch’ongsŏ [The Research of the Vietnam War] 1 (2002): 1–102.
-
Ch’ae Myŏng-sin. Sasŏnŭlnŏmgonŏmŏ [Survive a Life-or-Death Crisis]. Seoul: Maeilgyŏngjeshinmunsa, 1994.
-
“Che 52 hoe kuk’oekukpangwiwŏnhoehoeŭirok” [“The Minutes of the 52nd the Defense Committee of the National Assembly”], no. 3, August 1965. National Assembly Law Library. Seoul, Republic of Korea.
-
Chuwŏlhan’gukkunsaryŏngbu [Headquarters of [Republic of Korea Forces in Vietnam] rokfv]. Chuwŏlgunsogae [The Introduction of ROKFV]. Saigon: Chuwŏlhan’gukkunsaryŏngbu, 1967.
-
Cosmas, Graham A. MACV [Military Assistance Command, Vietnam]: The Joint Command in the Years of Escalation 1962–1967. Washington, DC: U.S. Army Center for Military History, 2006.
-
Dale, W. Andrade Collection. Presidential Archives Research. Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive. Texas Tech University. Lubbock, Texas.
-
Eckhardt, Major General George S. Vietnam Studies: Command and Control 1950–1969. Washington, DC: Department of the Army, 1973.
-
Kim Sŏng-ŭn. Naŭichaninŏmch’inaida [My Glass is Running Over]. Seoul: Itemple Korea, 2008.
-
Kukpangbukunsap’yŏnch’anyŏn’guso [Institute for Military History, Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of Korea]. Chŭngŏnŭlt’onghaeponpet’ŭnamchŏnjaenggwahan’gukkun [Looking at the Vietnam War and ROK Forces Through Oral Testimonies]. 3 Vols. Seoul: Kukpangbukunsap’yŏnch’anyŏn’guso, 2001–2003.
-
Kukpangbukunsap’yŏnch’anyŏn’guso [Institute for Military History, Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of Korea]. T’onggyeroponpet’ŭnamjŏnjaenggwahan’gukkun [Looking at the Vietnam War and the ROK forces Through Statistics]. Seoul: Kukpangbukunsap’yŏnch’anyŏn’guso, 2007.
-
Larry Berman Collection. Presidential Archives Research. Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive. Texas Tech University. Lubbock, Texas.
-
Larsen, Lieutenant General Stanley R. and Brigadier General James Lawton Collins Jr. Vietnam Studies: Allied Participation in Vietnam. Washington, DC: Department of the Army, 1975.
-
Papers of William C. Westmoreland (microfilm). Presidential Archives Research. Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive. Texas Tech University. Lubbock, Texas.
-
Presidential Archives. Sejong, Republic of Korea.
-
Republic of Korea Ministry of National Defense. Institute for Military History Archives. Seoul, Republic of Korea.
-
Sharp, Ulysses S. Grant Jr. Strategy for Defeat: Vietnam in Retrospect. San Rafael, CA: Presidio Press, 1978.
-
U.S. Department of the Army. Records of U.S. Forces in Southeast Asia, 1950–1975. Record Group 472. National Archives ii, College Park, MD.
-
U.S. Department of Defense. DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, s.v. “Command” and “Combatant Command (command authority),” 41, http://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/Doctrine/pubs/dictionary.pdf?ver=2017-12-23-160155-320.
-
U.S. Department of State. Foreign Relations of the United States. 1964–1968. Vol. xxix: Korea. Part 1. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2000.
-
U.S. House of Representatives. Investigation of Korean-American Relations: Report of the Subcommittee on International Organizations of the Committee on International Relations. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 31 October 1978.
-
Westmoreland, William C. A Soldier Reports. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1976.
-
Yi Dong-wŏn. Taet’ongnyŏngŭlkŭrimyŏ [Missing the President]. Seoul: Koryŏwŏn, 1992.
-
Yi Hun-sŏp. Kŭttaetangshinŭnŏdieissŏnnŭn’ga [Where Were You at That Time]. Seoul: Samtoh, 1991.
-
Yi Se-ho. Han’gillosŏmgyŏttŏn nae choguk [The nation I served]. Seoul: Taeyangmidiŏ, 2009.
-
Armstrong, Charles K. “America’s Korea, Korea’s Vietnam.” Critical Asian Studies 33, No. 4 (December 2001): 527–39.
-
Blackburn, Robert M. Mercenaries and Lyndon Johnson’s “More Flags”: The Hiring of Korean, Filipino, and Thai Soldiers in the Vietnam War. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1994.
-
Ch’oe Tong-ju. “Han’gugŭipet’ŭnamjŏnjaengch’amjŏntonggiekwanhanchaegoch’al” [“The Background to Korea’s Involvement in the Second Indochina War”]. Han’gukchŏngch’ihak’oebo [Political Science in Korea] 30, No. 2 (1996): 267–87.
-
Ch’oe Tong-ju. “The Political Economy of Korea’s Involvement in the Second Indo-China War.” Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. University of London, 1995. London, UK.
-
Ch’oe Yŏng-ho. Han’gwŏnŭroingnŭnpet’ŭnamjŏnjaenggwahan’gukkun [The Vietnam War and the ROK forces]. Seoul: Kukpangbukunsap’yŏnch’anyŏn’guso, 2004.
-
Hong, Kyu-dok. “Unequal Partners: rok-US Relations During the Vietnam War.”Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. University of South Carolina, 1991. Columbia, SC.
-
Hong Sŏk-ryul. “Wihŏmhanmirwŏl: pakchŏnghŭichonsŭnhaengjŏngbugihanmigwan’gyewapet’ŭnamjŏnjaeng” [“Dangerous Honeymoon: rok-US Relations During Park and Johnson Administrations, and the Vietnam War”]. Yŏksabip’yŏng [Korean Historical Studies] 88 (2009): 216–43.
-
Hwang Chi-yŏn. “Han’gukkunŭipet’ŭnamjŏnjaengp’abyŏngdonggiwakwajŏng [“The Dispatch of Korean Troops to the Vietnam War: Motives and Process”]. Oedaenonch’ong [International Area Review] 23, No. 1 (2001): 97–113.
-
Jo, Eun Seo. “Fighting for Peanuts: Reimagining South Korean Soldiers’ Participation in the Wŏllam Boom.” Journal of American-East Asian Relations 21, No. 2 (2014): 58–87.
-
Kwak, Tae Yang. “The Anvil of War: The Legacies of Korean Participation in the Vietnam War.” Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. Harvard Universitys, 2006. Cambridge, MA.
-
Kwak T’ae-yang. “Han’gugŭipet’ŭnamjŏnjaengch’amjŏnchaep’yŏngga” [“Re-evaluating South Korean Participation in the Vietnam War”]. Yŏksabip’yŏng [Korean Historical Studies] 107 (2014): 202–32.
-
Lewis, Adrian R. The American Culture of War: The History of U.S. Military Force from World War II to Operation Enduring Freedom. New York: Routledge, 2018.
-
Ma Sang-yun. “Han’gukkunpet’ŭnamp’abyŏnggyŏlchŏnggwakuk’oeŭiyŏk’al” [“The Deployment of South Korean Troops to Vietnam and the Role of the National Assembly”]. Kukchejiyŏkyŏn’gu [Journal of International Area Studies] 22, No. 2 (2013): 59–86.
-
Nordin, Johannes. “Taking Back Control: South Korea and the Politics of opcon Transfer,” Institute for Security & Development Policy, 30 January 2020, https://isdp.eu/publication/taking-back-control-south-korea-and-the-politics-of-opcon-transfer/.
-
Pak Kyŏng-suk. Chŏnjaengyŏngungch’aemyŏngshinchanggun [A War Hero General Chae]. Seoul: P’albogwŏn, 2018.
-
Pak T’ae-gyun. Pet’ŭnamjŏnjaeng [The Vietnam War]. Seoul: Han’gyŏryech’ulp’an, 2015.
-
Pak T’ae-gyun. “Pet’ŭnamjŏnjaengshigihanmigwan’gyeŭipyŏnhwa” [“Changes in Korean-U.S. Relationship during the Vietnam War”].” Kunsa [Military History] 89 (2013): 331–61.
-
Rottman, Gordon L. The US Army in the Vietnam War 1965–73. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2008.
-
Sarantakes, Nicholas Evan. “In the Service of Pharaoh? The United States and the Deployment of Korean Troops in Vietnam, 1965–1968.” Pacific Historical Review 68, No. 3 (1999): 425–49.
-
Summers, Harry G. On Strategy: A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War. Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1982.
-
Song Ch’ae-ik. “Pet’ŭnamjŏnshihan’gukkuntokchajŏngchakchŏnjihwigwŏnhaengsawach’aemyŏngsh insaryŏnggwanyŏk’alyŏn’gu” [“A Research on the Independent opcon of rok Forces and the Commander Chae Myung-shin”]. Kunsayŏn’gu [Military History Research] 137 (2014): 67–93.
-
Work, Clint. “The Long History of South Korea’s opcon Debate.” The Diplomat, 1 November 2017, https://thediplomat.com/2017/11/the-long-history-of-south-koreas-opcon-debate/.
-
Yi Shin-jae. “P’awŏlhan’gukkunŭichakchŏnjihwigwŏnkyŏlchŏnggwajŏngkoch’al” [“A Study on the decision process of Operational Command Authority of Korean Forces in Vietnam”]. Kunsa 96 (2015): 283–322.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 178 | 178 | 15 |
| Full Text Views | 11 | 11 | 1 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 27 | 27 | 3 |
Journey to Equality: The Establishment of the Relationship Between the United States and Republic of Korea Forces in the Vietnam War
In: Journal of American-East Asian RelationsAbstract
This article examines the problem of Operational Control (opcon) in the relationship the Republic of Korea Forces in Vietnam (rokfv) built with the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. When the rokfv deployed in Vietnam, they faced the dilemma of pursuing their own interests while maintaining a good relationship with U.S. forces. Therefore, the rokfv refused to fight under the opcon of U.S. forces, even though all rok troops remaining in South Korea were under U.S. opcon. Instead of arguing who would have opcon over the rokfv, the United States and the rok negotiated the establishment of a cooperative relationship. Although their opcon was not perfect at first, the rokfv nevertheless proved their military professionalism and achievements through securing areas and building company bases in their Vietnamese territories, rather than search-and-destroy operations, to achieve pacification. As a result, the rokfv built a parallel command in which the South Vietnamese, Americans, and South Koreans cooperated, which allowed them to carry out a Korean style of war under a more equal relationship with U.S. forces.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 178 | 178 | 15 |
| Full Text Views | 11 | 11 | 1 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 27 | 27 | 3 |