In 1948 the Nationalist Party of Dr Daniël Malan was elected in South Africa on the platform of apartheid. While this development added to pre-existing tensions with Britain, the economic, strategic, political, and cultural relationship between Pretoria and London remained extremely close. Unsurprisingly, therefore, following the outbreak of the Korean War the Attlee government pressed South Africa to join it and other Commonwealth countries in contributing forces to the US-led UN collective security action. Initially, the South African government refused to commit troops to what it saw as a peripheral issue beyond its African sphere of influence. Yet six weeks later Malan performed a volte-face contributing a squadron of fighter aircraft, the Flying Cheetahs, to Korea. This chapter argues that South Africa made this controversial decision for a range of reasons, but it was British pressure that proved decisive since Pretoria believed that its national interests were best served by following the lead of its only true ally. South Africa’s security priority in the early 1950s was attaining an African defence organisation based on NATO and viewed its Korean War contribution alongside its strengthened Commonwealth defence commitment to the Middle East as the necessary first steps to achieving this goal. This chapter will thus demonstrate that South Africa’s contribution to the Korean War helped—at least in the short term—to solidify ties with Britain. However, the Malan government also hoped its contribution to the Korean War would facilitate stronger links with the United States. But this policy backfired since Washington wanted to keep apartheid South Africa at arm’s length and was reluctant to provide the weapons Pretoria desired in return. Furthermore, in covering these neglected issues, this chapter utilises a wealth of relatively untouched records from the British National Archives and the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa.