Historically Korea and Vietnam had both been occupied by colonial powers and were struggling for their own independence post World War Two. Korea had been occupied by Japan and Vietnam had been occupied by France.

Korea was a short war, it lasted only three years, from 1950- 1953 whereas the American military was openly participating in Vietnam from 1964-1975. Both of these wars were expensive, the Korean War cost the US $67 billion and Vietnam cost $140 billion .

The Korean war commenced on 25 June, 1950 with the invasion of South Korea by North. At this time Kim Il Sung's made a national address in which he stated "The war which we are forced to wage is a just war for the unification and independence of the motherland and for freedom and democracy."

The Americans took this act as a sign that Kim II Sung was utilising a communist take-over, thus in October of the same year America, with UN sanction, invaded North Korea.

Vietnam commenced under the shadow of Koreas failure, the presidents reigning during this period feared the political views which may have been taken had they settled for a stalemate such as in Korea, losing Vietnam

The Korean War became the first American war ever waged solely as an ideological war.

On 30th April 1975, South Vietnam fell to the communists, and America lost the war against communism.

The Vietnam War commenced very differently from Korea, the Korean War originated internally when North attacked South, but Vietnam was started externally by the United States. "In August 1964, on the pretext of a North Vietnamese attack on U.S naval craft off the North Vietnamese coast, Johnson ordered air attacks on communist military instalments along the northern coast"

Despite this support, America's Korean campaign was unsuccessful, this was to some degree the fault of President Truman, who had not believed that the Chinese government would be prepared to intervene and he also underestimated the military power of China. Therefore, not wanting to engage in an all-out war with China and the Soviet Union, which would most likely have led to the Third world war, Truman was forced to negotiate, and thus the Korean War ended in stalemate on July 1953 after long negotiations for peace a cease-fire was finally signed. However it is an uneasy peace and to this day the two Korean nations have not reunified. Most South Koreans believe that the North are "engaged in a deceptive peace offensive in a bid to cover up their a

Some topics in this essay:
Korean War, Vietnam War, South Koreans, North Vietnamese, World War, Robert McNamara, Neil Sheenan, Korean Vietnam, Agent Orange, South Vietnam, korean war, vietnam war, north korea, world war, cold war, differences korean vietnam, domestic support, vietnam occupied, south vietnam, american people, communists america, korean vietnam wars, korea korean war,