乐鱼 体育

A Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security publication offers more clues of North Korea鈥檚 involvement in the Vietnam War

In the late 1990s, both the Vietnamese and North Korean governments began making very limited public disclosures regarding the participation of North Korean military personnel in combat operations against US and allied forces during the Vietnam War.

Most of these disclosures involved the activities of North Korean pilots flying MiG aircraft in combat against US aircraft over North Vietnam during the years 1968-1969.  Little information has been revealed about North Korean psychological warfare activities targeted against the large South Korean Army contingent that fought alongside US forces in Vietnam from 1965 through 1972, and all of the public disclosures have covered only the period 1966-1967. The 1968 volume of a Vietnamese Ministry of Defense history of the Vietnam War, published for the general public, revealed that:

鈥淥ur enemy proselyting service coordinated with an operational cell [to cong tac] from the Central Committee of the Korean Workers [Communist] Party to launch an ideological offensive aimed at South Korean troops. (Footnote:  During the period 1966-67, in accordance with an agreement between the Central Committee of our Party and the Central Committee of the Korean Labor Party, our [North Korean] allies sent a cadre team to Region V to proselytize South Korean soldiers.)鈥�^[1]

Another official Vietnamese military history repeated this information word-for-word:

鈥淥ur enemy proselyting service coordinated with an operational cell [t峄� c么ng t谩c] from the Central Committee of the Korean Workers  [Communist] Party to launch an ideological offensive aimed at South Korean troops. (Footnote:  During the period 1966-67, in accordance with an agreement between the Central Committee of our Party and the Central Committee of the Korean Workers Party, our [North Korean] allies sent a cadre team to Region V to proselytize South Korean soldiers.).鈥�^[2]

In addition, a , the official journal of the People鈥檚 Army of Vietnam, mentioned the presence in North Vietnam of a team of North Korean 鈥渟pecialists鈥� who helped to produce North Vietnamese Korean-language propaganda broadcasts directed against South Korean troops fighting in South Vietnam.^[3]

A 1967 cable sent to Bucharest by the Rumanian Embassy in Hanoi, , described a relevant conversation with a representative of the National Liberation Front (NLF). The NLF official revealed that a number of North Korean personnel had been sent to South Vietnam to collect intelligence on South Korean forces and to conduct psychological warfare activities targeted on South Korean soldiers.

The North Korean Air Force unit that battled American aircraft in the skies over North Vietnam returned to North Korea in 1969. The following entry from a Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security publication (intended primarily for internal distribution) reveals that North Korean intelligence/psychological warfare 鈥渟pecialists鈥� (advisors) were still operating in South Vietnam as late as 1971. At that time, a three-man team of North Koreans were caught in the middle of a battle between Vietnamese communist forces and South Korean troops in Binh Dinh Province, Central Vietnam, where the South Korean 鈥淭iger鈥� Division was based. 

It is very possible that the North Korean intelligence/psychological warfare specialists were directly in contact with the small number of (four to five) South Korean troops who defected or were taken prisoner by Vietnamese communist forces during the Vietnam War.

24 April to 5 May 1971

Binh Dinh Province Security Crushes Enemy Sweep Operation into the Province Party Committee鈥檚 Base Area

On 24 April 1971 the US and their puppets used aircraft [helicopters] to land one regiment of South Korean troops from the South Korean Tiger Division on Hon Che Hill (Hill 829) in the western part of Phu Cat District, Binh Dinh Province, to try to surround and destroy the province鈥檚 headquarters staff.  We were holding a study session for key senior province cadres at that location [Hon Che Hill] and three North Korean comrades where working at that location. The Province Party Committee ordered our armed security forces to join other forces in fighting to ensure the safety of the Province Party Committees headquarters and staff agencies as well as the safety of our foreign friends and of those attending the study session.               

When the enemy troops attacked the province鈥檚 base, the armed public security assigned to protect the Province Party Committee divided up into many cells that coordinated with other forces and friendly units in the fight. Our forces fought stalwartly, shattering many enemy attack waves and inflicting many losses on the enemy.

After fighting continuously for eleven days our forces had completely defeated the enemy鈥檚 sweep operation and had ensured the safety of the Province Party Committee headquarters, of the study session participants, and of our foreign guests.  During this fight against the enemy sweep operation our forces annihilated more than one hundred South Korean soldiers. Armed Security personnel alone killed 45 enemy soldiers, wounded many others, and captured large quantities of the enemy鈥檚 weapons and equipment.               

After this battle the Armed Security unit that protected the Province Party Committee was awarded the 鈥淪talwart Unit鈥� title.

Source: Colonel Nguyen Trong Khue [Nguy峄卬 Tr峄峮g Khu锚], ed., C么ng An Nh芒n D芒n Vi峄�t Nam: L峄媍h S峄� Bi锚n Ni锚n (1954-1975), Quy峄僴 II (Vietnam鈥檚 People鈥檚 Public Security: Chronology of Events [1954-1975], Vol. II) (Hanoi: People鈥檚 Public Security Publishing House, 2000), 288-289.

^[1] Colonel Nguy峄卬 V膬n Minh, ed.,  L峄媍h S峄� Kh谩ng Chi岷縩 Ch峄憂g M峄� C峄﹗ N瓢峄沜, T岷璸 V, T峄昻g Ti岷縩 C么ng v脿 N峄昳 D岷瓂 N膬m 1968 (History of the Resistance War Against the Americans to Save the Nation, 1954-1975, Volume V: The 1968 General Offensive and Uprisings) (Hanoi: National Political Publishing House, 2001), 271.

^[2] Nguy峄卬 Ph霉ng Minh, ed., Nam Trung B峄� Kh谩ng Chi岷縩 (Southern Central Vietnam's War of Resistance, 1945-1975) (Hanoi: National Political Publishing House, 1995), 351.

^[3] 鈥淣h峄� ng脿y 鈥渢谩c chi岷縩鈥� tr锚n l脿n song鈥� (鈥淩emembering the Time of 鈥淏attles鈥� Over the Airwaves鈥�), Qu芒n 膼峄檌 Nh芒n D芒n, 28 April 2010, accessed 28 April 2010 at