Deployment to Vietnam
At US request South Korean troops were sent to the Vietnam War; under the Brown Memorandum the US promised to modernize the army and provide economic aid.
Unknown author · Public domain · Source
Beginning with medical staff and taekwondo instructors in 1964, combat units such as the Blue Dragon, Tiger and White Horse divisions were sent to Vietnam from 1965. In the 1966 Brown Memorandum the US promised equipment to modernize the army and loans for economic development. By the withdrawal in 1973 more than 300,000 troops in total had served.
Remittances from soldiers and technicians and exports of construction and services — the "Vietnam boom" — earned foreign currency for growth. At the same time many soldiers were killed or suffered from Agent Orange, and the issue of harm to Vietnamese civilians has been raised.