Hands off in the late 30's and early 40's would have been to have refused to sell weapons to ANYONE in Europe.
During the Spanish Civil Warm the US refused to sell to either side.
You do not know diddly, sirs. You can't remember diddly, either.
The US has always armed South Korea. From 195w3 to the 1980's the US gave South Korea weapons. At some point South Korea started paying for them.
The purpose was always to prevent North Korean aggression.
When it was clear that South Vietnam had lost, and its troops started leaving their weapons in the road and stripping off their uniforms, the South Vietnamese government was not seeking to BUY weapons, just to be given them.As in FREE. South Vietnam was a beggar nation, it had no money.
And Congress refused, because it was clearly a lost cause.