From Vietnam to Gulf of Aden: History of Korea's overseas military deployments

Korea’s overseas military deployments have evolved over six decades, from combat operations during the Vietnam War to a broader range of missions focused on peacekeeping, reconstruction and maritime security. The country's history of overseas military deployments dates back to 1964, when it first dispatched medical personnel and taekwondo instructors to Vietnam, followed by combat troops in 1965. The deployment was one of the largest in the country's history, with approximately 310,000 military personnel having served in Vietnam over a decade. The lasting repercussions of the Vietnam War led to a prolonged decline in overseas military deployments until 1991 during the Gulf War, which broke out following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. As a multinational coalition was formed under U.N. resolutions, Korea's National Assembly approved the dispatch of noncombat personnel: 154 medical personnel and 150-member Air Force transport unit equipped with five transport aircraft. Following its accession to the U.N. in 1991, Korea began participating in U.N. peacekeeping operations, starting with the de