Park Chung-hee's Vietnam Odyssey: A Study in Management of the U.S.-ROK Alliance

摘要

South Korean President Park Chung-hee's decision to dispatch thousands of young men to fight in Vietnam nearly 50 years ago was an improbable undertaking. Faced with dire economic conditions, political instability, and doubts about American commitment to South Korea's security, the Park government was hardly in a position to send troops overseas. Nonetheless, Park actively sought military participation in someone else's internecine conflict, and his government benefited from the war, which allowed South Korea to secure the necessary capital to jumpstart Park's ambitious economic development plan. While Park's Vietnam venture paid dividends on the economic front, his relationship with the United States soured under miscalculation of U.S. intentions, as well as unintended consequences of South Korean participation in Vietnam. For Park, the Vietnam experience taught an important but painful lesson in the management of South Korea's relationship with the United States-that despite the alliance that binds them, each is motivated by self-interest.