The Vietnam War has been a forgotten war in South Korea for a long time, although it sent a total of 300 thousand military forces under the name of a crusade for freedom and anticommunism from 1968 to 1973. Democratization in South Korea, "Doi moi" of Vietnam, and the end of the Cold-War, however, made it possible to normalize diplomatic relations between South Korea and Vietnam in 1992. Around that time, memories of the War in South Koreaincluding not only a threat to its state but also injury of individuals such as defoliant damage, as well as their infringement on Vietnamese - began to be recalled without serious conflict. Furthermore, young Koreans, who had made efforts for democratization and reunification of Korea, initiated research on Vietnamese massacre by South Korean troops and instituted apology action after 1999. Simultaneously, different reactions to the movements appeared. Here can be seen contested memories of the Vietnam War in South Korea.
　　A variety of controversial realizations on the Vietnam War can be categorized into three types: "qualification", "holy war", and "cancel-out". The type qualification argues that "we" must apologize for "our" infringement and compensate for Vietnam if "we" require apology and compensation for "our" injury from Japan and the U.S. The type holy war, in contrast, claims that "we" participated in the War for freedom and justice, and that apology is defamation against "our" veterans and victims. The type cancel- out disputes that not only Vietnam but also "we" were victims of the Cold-War, and that the future is more important than the past. Both the holy war and the cancel-out represent nationalism in that they intend to protect the past "our" state action. However, the type qualification can be also another kind of nationalism insisting that apology for "our" infringement is true national honor and interest, and that reconciliation for the future can be found upon inquiry into the past.