Strongly doubt that Korea could in any way resemble the Vietnam conflict. What would be required is popular support of the government of Kim Il Sung among the population, and wide spread attrocities by S. Korean and UN forces.Is it possible? Or is the Korean conflict too fundmentally different? I'm not sure how it worked so... help! If yes, it could have turned into a loss, I wonder how that would've mixed with the McCarthy era. Could've lead to... rather scary results.
Any way to make Kim a "Korean Ho Chi Minh" to the Korean people?Kim was no Ho Chi Minh.
Terrain is not relevant to strategic concerns, even though it and logistics determine your tactics.The circumstances of Korea are too different (starting from geography) so no, it can't be a Vietnam.
The problem here is that you're thinking a mountainous terrain would automatically mean a good place for an insurgency war. It is not, since while it is true that there are the high mountains, those are not the type to be able to sustain the number of troops needed for a continuous conflict, both in terms of food, cover, and ideological support. There's a reason why by 1950, almost all guerrilla forces were destroyed before the Korean War broke out.
In Korea, the best place to fight an insurgency war is in the eastern part of the peninsula, which is mountainous, and not a good place to fight.
This is correct.There is no way to make Kim Il Sung into Ho Chi Minh. These are two different men with two different temperments, and two different backgrounds.