A similarity between the Korean war and the Vietnam war is that each was?

Answer 1

The Korean War was a clear cut invasion into the SOUTH by North Korea. And a clear cut "counter" invasion by US/Allied Forces back into North Korea. An act which brought Red China into the war (for the first time, US Forces fought Red Chinese Forces directly). The Korean War was short (3 years) and bloody (over 33,000 US deaths), very much akin to World War One; all conventional battle, with back and forth fighting. The terrain in Korea was heavy in hills and mountains, which made nearly every battlefield a "hill" fight; e.g. "Pork Chop Hill." The US/Allies were able to put a strangle hold on the Communist Supply lines, by controlling the surrounding sea around the Korean Peninsula. Thus enabling a successful end to the war, although the USSR's leader Joseph Stalin's death in 1953, had alot to do with the ending of the Korean War, which ended the same year, 1953. The Vietnam War was an infiltration war; slowly filtering into South Vietnam, with no clear view of what the enemy looked like. He was a Viet Cong by night, and "Joe Citizen" by day. The infiltrating Northerners would wait it out in the mountainsides, not showing themselves; BUT STUDYING the US Forces (Ia Drang, 1965; was the FIRST large battle between the Army of the United States & the Army of North Vietnam-Film: We Were Soldiers Once...). After Ia Drang, the NVA knew how to fight us. With lessons learned from the Korean War, we CHOSE NOT to invade North Vietnam! This time, we did NOT want the Communist Super Powers directly involved with this war. We did everything in our power to avoid it. Because it was a war of "hide and seek", small unit contacts; it blended well into the heavily vegetated terrain, which made it more difficult to fight in larger numbers, but easy to play "hide and seek." Because of the smaller scale of engagments (firefights) the casualties were often lower than the conventional battles of Korea. In the end, unlike Korea, we could NOT isolate the Communist's Supply lines; without involving other countries (widening the war), so it was time, as GI's used to say, to "declare a victory, and leave." Bottom line: Korea was a shorter war with bigger battles & higher casualties. Vietnam was a longer war with smaller battles & lower casualties.