I did a paper on this for my year 12 modern history so I should remember some things...

Well South Korea did have a major military presence in Vietnam, sent in return for military and financial aid from the US government. I know several Korean people who served in Vietnam, and one factor in the brutality and efficiency of the Korean military in Vietnam was the fact that the Korean war was but 10-15 years ago. Many of the soldiers who fought in Vietnam had been children during the civil war and and compounded with the aggressive anti-communist campaigns of the Rhee and Park Regimes, they were ardent anti-communists. People of my grandfather's generation still talk of the bbalgaengi ssekideul or the "red bastards."

The Korean soldiers sent were conscripts, but of the three divisions sent, maengho and baekma had both seen extensive action during the Korean war and chung ryong was a brigade of the Korean Marines, who have a history of extreme brutality and efficiency.

The effectiveness of the Korean soldiers came from the fact that they were highly trained both in military and marital arts, planned operations extensively and had brutal yet effective commanders and leaders, many of which had extensive military experience in their own civil war. They were also extremely thorough and mistrustful, even learning vietnamese and often resorting to torture.

I'm just trying to remember things I've written before, but all this should actually be quite easy to find on the internet... I don't think the Korean opinion is quite easy to find on the internet though so I'll elaborate quickly on that as well.

Well the Koreans during the war seems to have largely supported the efforts as a war against communism but you also have to know that South Korea was also ruled by a dictator (who happens to be the father of our current president) who used propaganda. There were people opposed to it of course, including students. Many also tried to dodge the draft, whether it be by bribing or knowing recruitment officials or feigning ill health.

Today, many people try to ignore the atrocities of the Vietnam war. Most people are aware of the war, and many of the details, but often try to block out the rapes and massacres. I have never once heard a discussion about that aspect of the war amongst Koreans I know. Korean governments have made official apologies however, I believe. Still, publication of such details in the media is highly suppressed even today and opposed by the public.

Sorry for the rambling, but I think that's a start. [This](https://www.google.com.au/url? sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=7&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CFwQFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.asaninst.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F10%2F2013041608420542CC5045117D8E8918F9F196A421316A-x.pdf&ei=Ws5oU9-dJMOYkQW9r4GIAQ&usg=AFQjCNFosqTHX7GOkWviGwEFJIn0U_8saA&sig2=KnPo-rxJzBe7tPZr6_fyhA&bvm=bv.66111022,d.dGI) actually seems like a good source of my last paragraph I think.