N. Korea: Pilots Fought in Vietnam War
The Associated Press
Saturday, July 7, 2001; 12:51 a.m. EDT

SEOUL, South Korea –– North Korea sent fighter jet pilots to combat U.S. forces during the Vietnam War, the communist state's official news media reported.

It was the North's first official confirmation that its pilots participated in the Vietnam War.

North Korea's state-run Radio Pyongyang and Korean Central Television Station reported late Friday that representatives from the North's ruling Workers' Party met in October 1966 and decided to support North Vietnam during the war.

The reports quoted the late President Kim Il Sung, the father of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, as telling the pilots to "fight in the war as if the Vietnamese sky were your own sky," said Yonhap, the South's national news agency, which monitored the North Korean reports.

The reports also said North Korea provided North Vietnam with "numerous weapons and ammunition as well as 2 million sets of uniforms."

They did not reveal how many North Korean pilots were dispatched to the war.

Lee Chul Soo, a North Korean air force captain who defected to South Korea in 1998, had earlier said that more than 800 North Korean pilots flew Soviet-provided MiG jets to help North Vietnamese troops fight U.S. forces.

North Korea and Vietnam had remained close allies until bilateral relations began cooling with Hanoi's establishment of diplomatic ties with Seoul in 1992. South Korea is one of the largest foreign investors in Vietnam.

Kim Yong Nam, the head of North Korea's national assembly and its No. 2 man, will visit Hanoi July 11-14 to discuss bolstering ties. Kim, the ceremonial head of state, was invited by Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong.

President Luong plans to visit South Korea in late August, a South Korean foreign ministry official said.

South Korea also participated in the Vietnam War on the side of the United States. From 1965 to 1973, 320,000 South Korean soldiers were sent to Vietnam. The maximum number of South Korean troops there at one time was 50,000. More than 5,000 South Koreans were killed.

Sure why not?  All the commies block were there all the time. Chinese, N. Korean, Soviet, and E. German were there.

Of course I had heard about chi coms, R. A.'s but never the N. Koreans flying jets.

My grandfather who was a SEAL in Vietnam has a captured North Korean flag that he got on a raid of a VC camp. I currently have the flag in my gun-room along with some other things he brought back and gave to me. He was not sure why the flag was there as there no North Koreans in the camp at the time of the raid. He believes it was just a ploy to make us believe that the North Koreans were involved, as he never saw any evidence that they were, ground war wise anyway.

The South Koreans in Vietnam


In 1954, the ROK still pulling itself together after it's long war offered to
fight with the French in Indochina.  The French refused.  A mere ten years later
The Republic of Korea(ROK) agreed to commit troops to another Indochina war.
The ROKs was firmly entrenched in CTZ II by late 1965.  The Koreans fought on
until 1973.

The South Korean Force:  Was the 3rd largest allied force in Vietnam consisting
of 2 full infantry divisions and a Marine brigade for a grand total of 48,000
fighting men.  In 1969, more ROKs were committed in South Vietnam than North
Vietnamese.  In addition 272,000 support personnel were involved in the war.  As
far as I know the Marine brigade numbered 4,000 and was the first combat unit
deployed in Vietnam by the Republic of Korea.  By 1972 they outnumbered the
Americans present in Vietnam.  South Korean units had a rather colorful
nickname.  2nd Marine Brigade:  Blue Dragon Capitol Division:  Tiger 9th
Division:  White Horse

Training:  South Korean men are required in the ROK military for ???  years.
 In addition all ROKs Taikwando; a form of Karate.  The ROKs were for
the most part US trained, equipped and many had served beside the Americans
before.  Their Korean language manuals were merely a translation of the US ones.

Elite:  While all their units were certainly above par, The S.  Korean's 48th
Marine brigade was superb.  One Korean newspaper article also said paratroopers
were sent to the war,

Interaction With Civilians/Others:  Here are a few quotes:  "Our Platoon would
often swap trade with the Australians....No-one swapped with the Koreans
though," -An American soldier complaining about C-Rations "South Korea and the
Philippines-played the part of corporate mercenaries."  Introduction to
Australia's Vietnam "The Korean's know how to handle the Vietnamese."  Credited
to an Australian Battalion Commander.  "Contact with the Koreans is to be
avoided at all costs unless victory is 100 percent certain" Captured VC
documents

Actions:  The South Koreans operated out of CTZ II.  In 1966 a joint ROK-US
action took named Operation Masher-White Wing.  Unlike the US They favored
multiple detailed sweeps and on the spot interrogations of suspected VC.  They
tried to bypass interpreters and learn at least crude Vietnamese.  They were
rarely given the luxury of Chopper assaults and as a result their limited area
of operations was 100% secured.  Their units grudgingly withdrew starting with
the Blue Dragon which left in February of 1972.  On March 6th, 1973 the
remaining units left being the last allied units to do so


Vet Issues:  South Korea is beginning to come to terms with some of the less
honorable war time actions of their soldiers.  However, a bigger issue lurks as
a result of a secret deal with the LBJ government the ROK vets are entitled as
much as 1 billion dollars due to political agreements and judicial rulings.
When the Agent Orange lawsuit was settled in the early 1990s money was paid to
many non-Asian countries involved the US, Australia, New Zealand and even
Canada.  According to Seoul 17,800 veterans show the effects of Agent Orange.
Some 6,000 Koreans did receive 10.1 million dollars in death and disability
compensation from the US.

More info can be found here.
http://mcel.pacificu.edu/as/students/koreavet/home.htm

Ronstoys:

Thanks bro...I mean't the NORTH Koreans though, thanks again.