What is the difference between the Korean War and The Vietnam War?

Answer 1

The Vietnam and Korean wars differ in many aspects.

The fundamental difference between the two wars was in the outcome. The United States and other democratic nations protected South Korea from the communists, while it lost to them in South Vietnam. Much of this had to do with the way in which each of these wars were fought. In Korea, the U.S. was pushed back mainly by Chinese forces when the U.S. neared the Chinese border. General Douglas MacArthur wanted to expand the war into China. Each side fought most of their battles on open ground. This gave America the strategic advantage because of its superior air power and more technologically advanced weapons. Battles tended to be quick and fierce, resulting in pushing back to the original line of division and thus the Koreas ended back at the 38th parallel. Vietnam on the other hand, resorted to guerrilla warfare given its smaller fighting force and environment. The Vietnamese had previously built some underground tunnels in their resistance movements against the Japanese and then the French. They expanded on this network of tunnels and made a huge network stretching more than 250 kilometers. Most of these tunnels were invincible from American air attacks and were sometimes built right under US Military stations. For months, Americans could not figure out how enemy fire came right into their camp. Finally, when the military realized the problem, they went into the network of tunnels, but often got lost, ambushed or ran into booby traps. Another reason why America lost Vietnam and not Korea, was that the Vietnamese turned the war into a "people's war". In Vietnam, everyone joined the war effort. One motto of the communist Vietnamese was, "If the truck is struck, tear down the walls of your house." Americans had no way of telling between neutral civilians and Viet Cong supporters. This is one of the main reasons why America could not defeat the Viet Cong.

The difference in the fighting methods of each war gave rise to sharp differences in casualties. 54,000 American soldiers died in Korea and the war ended within three years. In Vietnam, however, 58,000 soldiers perished over a course of ten years. The Korean War was characterized by short bursts of fighting whereas Vietnam tended to be long and drawn out. Because of the psychological impact of this, their was an enormous difference between how the veterans of both wars were received back in the USA. The timing and ideological justifications for the wars also contributed to the differing moral support the US troops received.

Answer 2

The Korean War was fought in Korea and the Viet Nam War was fought in Viet Nam.