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Military power of Russia & South Korea

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Russia vs South Korea

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Russia South Korea

Russia is a country located in North Asia bordering the Arctic Ocean with an area of 17,098,242 km2 (land boundries: 22,407 km and costline 37,653 km). The capital of Russia is Moscow. The number of inhabitants is 146,171,015.

On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine with an estimated 150 k troops. Russia is the leading member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The Russian Federation's military is equipped with domestically-produced weapons systems. Russia is the world's second largest exporter of military hardware and has the world's largest stockpile of nuclear weapons.

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South Korea is a country located in Eastern Asia with an area of 100,210 km2 (land boundries: 237 km and costline 2,413 km). The capital of South Korea is Seoul. The number of inhabitants is 51,709,098.

US-South Korea Mutual Defense Treaty is a cornerstone of South Korea’s security. The Treaty gave the US permission to station land, air, and sea forces in the territory of South Korea. The USA maintained approximately 28,000 military personnel in the country. South Korea has been engaged with NATO through dialogue and security cooperation since 2005 and is considered by NATO to be a global partner. The South Korean military is equipped with a mix of domestically-produced and imported weapons systems. The top foreign weapons supplier is the United States and some domestically-produced systems are built under US license.

More about South Korea military

If you want to check the comparison in terms of economic ratios check out CompareEconomy.com

Military expenditures

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small flag KR

Military budget

+
86.4 billion $
44 billion $

Percent of GDP

+
4.1 %
2.5 %

Manpower

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small flag KR

Active personnel

+
1,000,000
555,000

Reserve personnel

+
2,000,000
2,750,000

Available for military

+
34,765,736
13,185,794

Land Forces

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small flag KR
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Tanks

+
12,267
2,201
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Armoured fighting vehicles

+
24,172
4,456
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Total artillery

+
18,266
8,096
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Self-propelled artillery

+
6,443
3,270
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Rocket artillery

+
4,331
426

Air Forces

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small flag KR
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Total aircraft

+
4,418
1,524
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Fighter

+
340
61
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Multirole

+
382
325
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Attack

+
689
0
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Helicopters

+
1,665
837
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UCAV (combat drone)

+
100
0

Navy

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small flag KR
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Total naval

+
653
152
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Aircraft carriers

+
1
2
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Destroyers

+
14
13
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Frigates

+
11
17
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Corvettes

+
80
3
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Submarines

+
66
22

Nuclear weapons

Russia

The second most important state when it comes to researching, developing, and then storing nuclear weapon. Although the Russians managed to catch up with Americans later on, it was only in 1949 that the first nuclear test conducted by then the Soviet Union occurred. It was still quite a surprise for the Western Powers, who believed that Russia won’t be capable of producing nuclear warheads until 1953-1954. After the first test, the nation in question started to rapidly increase the amount of warheads they possessed. In the end of 1980s, they were the leading power when it comes to total number of warheads stored. It was approximately 40,000 warheads.

Nowadays, similarly to United States, the Russians store a total number of 6490 warheads, what is scarcely more than USA. When it comes to the number of deployed warheads, the amount is the same as in case of Americans, namely 1600 deployed warheads. We should also remember about the fact that Russia conducted over 700 tests, what makes them the second most important nation when it comes to developing nuclear weapons. However, it was the Soviet Union that managed to create the biggest bomb in the world. Known as Tsar Bomba, it had blast yield of 50 megatons of TNT.

South Korea

Does not have nuclear weapons.

Military service

Russia

18-27 years of age for compulsory or voluntary military service; males are registered for the draft at 17 years of age; 1-year service obligation (conscripts can only be sent to combat zones after 6 months of training); reserve obligation for non-officers to age 50; enrollment in military schools from the age of 16, cadets classified as members of the armed forces.

South Korea

20-30 years of age for compulsory military service, with middle school education required; minimum conscript service obligation - 21 months (Army, Marines), 23 months (Navy), 24 months (Air Force); 18-26 years of age for voluntary military service; women, in service since 1950, admitted to 7 service branches, including infantry, but excluded from artillery, armor, anti-air, and chaplaincy corps; HIV-positive individuals are exempt from military service.