Both wars were apart of the greater “Cold War” and were fought with U.S. assistance because of the communist vs democratic conflict occurring. The Korean War took place in the 1950’s and the Vietnam War took place in the 1960/70’s. The Korean War technically never ended as today there is a North Korea and a South Korea. However, the Vietnam War did end and communism took over the country.
One major difference between the Korean War and the Vietnam War was the style of fighting: “... The Korean War was characterized by short bursts of fighting whereas Vietnam tended to be long and drawn out.” This impacted the morale of the troops, and also affected the amount of casualties in both wars:
Korea was largely “a war between two countries” - Vietnam was more a conflict within the country of South Vietnam. Korean War really was a war between two sides: North vs South, with a battle line where fighting took place between those armies. ... Vietnam was primarily a civil war or a revolution within the South.
