USS Iowa (BB-61) 1948, as part of the post World War II drawdown of the armed forces, "Iowa" was deactivated at San Francisco, and then formally decommissioned into the United States Navy reserve fleets on 24 March 1949. In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, prompting the United Nations to authorize military intervention. President Harry S. Truman ordered US forces stationed in Japan to transfer to South Korea. Truman also sent US based troops, tanks, fighter and bomber aircraft, and a strong naval force to the area to support South Korea. As part of the naval mobilization, "Iowa" was reactivated on 14 July
South Korea in the Vietnam War United States as a foreign army. Economic payment in return for the participation of Korea was an underlying cause for its participation, with a House Subcommittee hearing chaired by J. William Fulbright criticising the deployment of Korean forces as resembling the "hiring of mercenaries". Participation in combat was directly linked to monetary compensation, and during the Vietnamization period Park Chung-hee demanded further compensation in order for South Korea to take a more direct combat role, which the US was unwilling to do. South Korea at the time was alarmed by the United States' plan to move two of its military