A book I read had a different take on this issue. The ROKMC did
not sympathise with the Vietnamese in any way about fighting
foreign invaders. Nor was "indifference" anywhere near to
describing the ROKMC mentality.
It said that the South Koreans had just finished a brutal war
against communists in their own country during the Korean War. The
outcome was inconclusive and South Koreans were still filled with
very deep hatred for anyone who is a communist.
So when the ROKMC came to Vietnam, they brought their hatred for
communist with them. They were in Vietnam ready to exact a
vengeance on Communism they couldn't in Korea due to the truce.
This partly explained their brutal methods.
About 4,000 Vietnamese had died by atrocities committed by Korean
soldiers.
It was reported that communist activity was near zero in their
AO. With a reported 4,000 "VC" dead, this is hardly surprising. But
their methods are not to be praised as they committed murder and
other atrocities indiscriminately on the Vietnamese people
including women and children, oftentimes merely on suspicion of
being communist sympathisers. Theirs was a reign of absolute,
merciless terror.
In fact, it is often the NVA and Vietcong who were ambushed by
Koreans and not vice versa.
During the early phase of the war, the Australians also had
great counter-insurgency ops going on in their AO. They knew of the
Vietcong's habits and their need for the people to supply them with
food and money. So they gave villages protection and set up ambush
at night when the VC come to collect their taxes. This way the
Aussies could pick the battleground.
Their kill ratio was also high. Though they obviously were a lot
more humane and didn't kill 4,000 "VC", they succeeded in starving
the VC so badly they became desperate and made even more mistakes.
Many surrendered due to hunger and poor morale. The villagers felt
safe and that they could trust the Australians and readily
co-operated by giving intel etc. leading to more successes.
Unfortunately, the Americans got into the picture and ordered the
Australians to switch from Counter Insurgency to full-scale gung-ho
Search and Destroy that the US cowboys favour.
So, like the Americans, the Australians went hunting deep in the
jungles and left the villages in the protection of the poorly-armed
and trained local militia. Soon, the VC were back in business
terrorising the people and collecting food and taxes.
In the jungles, it was mostly wild goose chase and when they do get
into a firefight, it was usually the VC or NVA's initiative and it
was the commies who picked the time and place, not the other way
round.
But the most casualties were caused by encounters with mines and
booby-traps made from unexploded Allied ordnance. The VC used
unexploded arty rounds or they dig up the mines from Aussie
minefields to re-lay them against the Aussies in other areas.
Troopers were killed without the enemy even being anywhere near.
This led to great frustrations and poor morale. It also put the
troops on constant edge thinking their next step could be their
last and no chance to even fire a shot in anger. Australian
casualties mounted and Australian public opinion soon sent them
packing back home to Australia.
