[Korea Encounters] Vietnam War refugees arrive in Korea in 1975

The front page of The Korea Times on May 24, 1975, shows Vietnamese refugees arriving in Busan. / Korea Times Archive

By Matt VanVolkenburg

"When we were homeless," Pham Thudung wrote in The Korea Times on July 2, 1975, "the Korean Red Cross gave us a home. I remember the first time I came to this room. There were many blankets, pillows, and a bag with papers, envelopes, soap, a comb… I cannot forget the kindness of the Red Cross women."

Pham was one of over 1,000 Vietnamese refugees who arrived in Korea in May 1975 after the fall of South Vietnam. South Korea, taking advantage of an American desire to broaden foreign participation in the Vietnam War, as well as U.S. guarantees of generous remuneration, sent over 300,000 South Korean soldiers and 16,000 civilian contractors to the war-torn country between 1965 and 1973.

Though South Korean troops pulled out of Vietnam in March 1973, Korean naval craft returned two years later to evacuate South Koreans four days before Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese. On April 26, 1975, two Korean LSTs left Saigon with 1,335 Koreans and Vietnamese on board. Among the almost 1,000 Vietnamese who were rescued were wives and children of Koreans and family members of the Vietnamese Embassy in Seoul.

On May 2, the Korean cargo ship Twin Dragon rescued 215 Vietnamese refugees from four sinking South Vietnamese ships. Unable to land them in neighboring countries, the ship was ordered home. A Korea Times editorial on May 14 stated that, though Korea was a developing country, this was "appropriate in view of the Korean people's humanitarian point of view and of the Korean government's image in the international community."

"Looking back over history," it continued, "Whenever there were wars on the continent, many people took shelter in this country from China and Manchuria and the Korean people did not spare efforts to accommodate them and have them resettled.
"Some of the refugees will become Korean people and for this end they need protection and guidance… Now we have a moral obligation to protect them warmly and embrace them with compassion to give them hope for a better tomorrow."

On May 13, the LSTs landed in Busan, where a former girls' high school was converted into a refugee camp, and 473 Vietnamese with Korean relatives soon joined them. On May 24 the Twin Dragon arrived with 215 more refugees, increasing the total to 1,040. At the refugee camp vaccinations were given, the Korea Exchange Bank opened a branch to exchange currency, and customs registered their belongings. Local students collected toys to give to the nearly 500 child refugees.

The Korean government had to wrestle with complications such as having not signed the U.N. Refugee Convention, but of the refugees in the camp, only 63 wished to remain in Korea. Negotiations with the U.S. and French embassies, among others, led to around 1,000 refugees emigrating to third countries. After months of Korean-language and vocational training, the 78 remaining refugees moved to new homes throughout the country on Dec. 18, 1975.

The government gave 1.5 million won to each household to find housing and Seoul City and provincial governments aided them in this as well. The Office of Labor Affairs arranged jobs for 56 of them at a variety of companies, including at factories, and the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs provided a subsidy to cover six months of living expenses.

According to refugee Do Thi Tu, "From the day we arrived in Busan, we owe everything to the Korean government and people. We are especially grateful to them for having us settle with generous financial aid. We feel the only way to express our gratitude is to become Koreans quietly."

It would seem this group of 584 refugees did just that, with perhaps one exception. According to The Korea Times on Aug. 13, 1976, a group of Vietnamese women were opening Korea's first Vietnamese restaurant in Seoul's Cheongjin-dong. Among the dishes served at "Nha Trang," which catered to Koreans who served in Vietnam and Vietnamese refugees, were "Vietnamese noodles, roast chicken, and crab dishes." Whether the noodles included pho, it did not say.

Matt VanVolkenburg has a master's degree in Korean studies from the University of Washington. He is the blogger behind populargusts.blogspot.kr.

Site Map E-paper Subscribe Register LogIn
Site Map E-paper Subscribe Register LogIn