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| 1965–73 |
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| ROK troops were involved on the U.S. side in the war in Vietnam (See July). South Korea at an early date sent a contingent and by 1966 had fielded 143,000 troops in Vietnam. In all, some 300,000 ROK troops fought in the war. | 1 |
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| 1966, Oct |
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| North Korea, which at first had sided with Communist China in its dispute with the Soviet Union, tended to return to its old allegiance following the deposition of Nikita Khrushchev and the onset of the Cultural Revolution in China. | 2 |
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| 1967, March 3 |
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| Presidential elections in South Korea turned out a victory for Pak. | 3 |
| Tensions grew in the relations between North and South Korea. North Korean border raids and guerrilla operations became common and often assumed major dimensions. | 4 |
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| 1968, Jan. 23 |
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| North Korean gunboats seized the U.S. intelligence ship Pueblo and its crew of 82 outside the 12-mile limit in the Sea of Japan. Despite U.S. naval and air demonstrations and a momentary danger of war, the ship and crew were held by the North Koreans until Dec. 22, when they were released. | 5 |
| Also in January, a North Korean paramilitary unit assaulted Pak's presidential home; a similar assassination attempt in Aug. 1974 killed Pak's wife. | 6 |
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| April 15 |
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| The North Koreans shot down a U.S. intelligence plane 90 miles off the Korean coast. The government made no secret of its hatred of “U.S. imperialism” nor of its determination to effect the reunification of Korea under Communist auspices in the near future, despite the continued presence in South Korea of some 60,000 U.S. troops. | 7 |
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