Nation: VIET NAM & KOREA: A COMPARISON

A POINT that often comes up in discussion of the war in Viet Nam is that it may become another Korea. Comparative statistics of the 1950-53 war in Korea and the war to date in Viet Nam:

U.S. Troop Totals. Korea: 500 U.S. military advisers present at start, building up to a peak of 400,000 troops; some 1,250,000 Americans served in all, counting replacements. Viet Nam: a 685-man advisory mission in 1961, expanded to 72,000 servicemen as of last week with prospects that the number will rise to nearly 200,000 by year’s end; so far, an estimated 200,000 Americans have served.

The Allies. Korea: the original 150,000-man South Korean force grew to 460,000; also participating were 40,000 troops from 15 other nations fighting under the flag of the United Nations. Viet Nam: presently engaged are 550,000 South Vietnamese government troops, composed of military regulars and regional and village self-defense forces. Other allies involved are 900 Australians and 150 New Zealanders who take part in combat, along with assorted instructors and technicians, including 200 other Australians and 32 New Zealanders, twelve British, 68 Filipinos, 80 Japanese, 2,100 South Koreans, 124 Nationalist Chinese, 23 West Germans, 17 Italians, and one Canadian.

The Enemy. Korea: North Korean troops, 135,000; Red Chinese “volunteers,” 1,000,000. Viet Nam: from an original 3,000 guerrillas trained in the North, Red strength has grown to possibly 47,000 main-force troops today, among them an estimated 10,000 North Vietnamese regulars who have infiltrated the South; there are also 80,000 to 100,000 local guerrillas and 18,000 supply troops, for a total of 145,000 to 165,000—plus an undetermined number of informers. The great bulk of the 450,000-man North Vietnamese army has not been in action so far.

The Battleground. Korea: 525 miles long, 90 to 200 miles wide; paddyfields in the west and south, mountains reaching to 9,000 ft., inadequate roads, temperatures ranging from 120°F in summer to 16° in winter. Viet Nam: 1,200 miles long by (on the average) 90 miles wide, more than twice the size of Florida; paddyfields, jungles, mountains temperatures averaging a humid 92° in the lowlands, reaching as low as 28° in the mountains.

The Air War. Korea: unrestricted U.S. bombing of the North impeded transport, destroyed virtually 100% of industry, 40% of all housing; U.S. pilots downed opposing MIGs at victory ratio of 11 to 1. Viet Nam: selective bombing has destroyed 34 bridges and some oil tanks, but industrial complexes around Hanoi and Haiphong remain untouched; of the few opposing MIGs, five have been shot down in air combat as against the loss of two U.S. jets.

The Cost. Korea: 54,246 American dead, 103,284 wounded, 7,140 taken prisoner; allies’ casualties came to 50,194 dead (47,000 South Koreans, 686 British, 2,508 others) and 194,297 wounded. Enemy casualties were estimated at 1,347,000 dead or wounded. Viet Nam: 503 American dead, 2,720 wounded, 14 captured; South Vietnamese have lost 25,000 dead, some 48,000 wounded. Viet Cong dead or wounded are estimated at 107,000.

The Conclusion. Korea: after three years, one month and two days of fighting, the Reds signed an armistice reaffirming the 38th Parallel as the boundary dividing North and South Korea; today, despite an uneasy truce line guarded by 50,000 Americans and 550,000 South Korean troops, South Korea is a sovereign, non-Communist nation. Viet Nam: no conclusion is in sight, and Hanoi leaders are described by recent British Special Envoy Harold Davies as “intoxicated with their successes.”