Military power of South Korea & NATO
South Korea vs NATO
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 militaryThe North Atlantic Treaty Organization (North Atlantic Alliance) is an intergovernmental military alliance which was signed in Washington on 4 April 1949. NATO is a system of collective security: its independent member states agree to defend each other against attacks by others countries. NATO's main headquarters are located in Brussels. The following twelve states signed the treaty and became the founding members: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom and United States. The following states joined the treaty after 1949: Greece, Germany, Turkey and Spain. Members who joined after the dissolution of the Soviet Union: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia.
Before and during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, several NATO countries sent army to reinforce the alliance's eastern flank. Alliance had deployed 40,000 troops along its 2,500 kilometres long Eastern flank to deter possible Russian aggression. On 5 July the North Atlantic Alliance members signed off on the accession protocols for Sweden and Finland and formally approved the decisions of the NATO summit.
Finland joined the alliance on 4 April 2023.
If you want to check the comparison in terms of economic ratios check out CompareEconomy.com
Military expenditures
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Military budget: | 44 billion $ | 1321.7 billion $ |
Percent of GDP: | 2.5% | 0% |
Manpower
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Active personnel: | 555,000 | 3,254,339 |
Reserve personnel: | 2,750,000 | 2,633,732 |
Available for military: | 13,185,794 | 206,903,543 |
Land Forces
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Tanks: | 2,606 | 12,328 | |
Armoured fighting vehicles: | 4,380 | 81,916 | |
Total artillery: | 7,468 | 12,467 | |
Self-propelled artillery: | 3,040 | 4,439 | |
Rocket artillery: | 574 | 1,751 |
Air Forces
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Total aircraft: | 1,585 | 20,987 | |
Fighter aircraft: | 156 | 903 | |
Multirole aircraft: | 371 | 3,663 | |
Attack aircraft: | 0 | 673 | |
Helicopters: | 757 | 7,945 | |
UCAV (combat drone): | 0 | 965 |
Navy
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Total naval: | 195 | 1,990 | |
Aircraftcarriers: | 2 | 30 | |
Destroyers: | 12 | 121 | |
Frigates: | 18 | 111 | |
Corvettes: | 11 | 54 | |
Submarines: | 22 | 144 |
☢ Nuclear weapons
South Korea
Does not have nuclear weapons.
NATO
Data not available
Military service
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.
NATO
Data not available