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Military power of South Korea & USA

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South Korea vs USA

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South Korea USA

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

USA is a country located in North America with an area of 9,857,306 km2 (land boundries: 12,002 km and costline 19,924 km). The capital of USA is Washington. The number of inhabitants is 331,449,281.

The United States is a member of NATO and was one of the original 12 countries to sign the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949. The US military's inventory is comprised almost entirely of domestically-produced weapons systems defense industry is capable of designing, developing, maintaining, and producing the full spectrum of weapons systems. The United States is the world's leading arms exporter.

More about USA 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 US

Military budget

+
44 billion $
916 billion $

Percent of GDP

+
2.5 %
3.4 %

Manpower

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small flag US

Active personnel

+
555,000
1,358,500

Reserve personnel

+
2,750,000
799,500

Available for military

+
13,185,794
73,270,043

Land Forces

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small flag US
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Tanks

+
2,606
5,652
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Armoured fighting vehicles

+
4,380
38,639
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Total artillery

+
7,468
3,161
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Self-propelled artillery

+
3,040
1,521
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Rocket artillery

+
574
705

Air Forces

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small flag US
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Total aircraft

+
1,585
13,175
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Fighter

+
156
377
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Multirole

+
371
2,484
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Attack

+
0
531
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Helicopters

+
757
4,928
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UCAV (combat drone)

+
0
444

Navy

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small flag US
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Total naval

+
195
460
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Aircraft carriers

+
2
20
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Destroyers

+
12
97
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Frigates

+
18
0
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Corvettes

+
11
23
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Submarines

+
22
69

Nuclear weapons

South Korea

Does not have nuclear weapons.

USA

The first country to develop and to military use nuclear warheads in the world. Everything started from the Manhattan project, a research that had one particular goal in focus – to develop and produce the first nuclear weapon. Americans were the first to wield such powerful weapon. Everything started in 1941, which is date of the beginning of Manhattan project. Since the end of the Second World War, United States became the leading country when it comes to possessing nuclear warheads and it lasted approximately to 1980s. We should also bear in mind that United States are also the only nation that ever used nuclear weapon in military conflict.

In 1960, the amount of warheads stored by Americans exceeded 30,000. However, it is worth to note that throughout the entire period of the so-called Cold War, USA managed to build approximately 70,000 nuclear warheads, what is more than all other countries with access to nuclear weapons combined. From the first test that happened in 1945 to this day, the USA conducted 1054 tests of atomic bombs. Still, as a result of introduced restrictions on the amount of warheads one state can possess, the current number has dropped to 6500 warheads. Noteworthy is also the fact that out of this number, United States deployed only 1600.

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.

USA

18 years of age (17 years of age with parental consent) for male and female voluntary service; no conscription; maximum enlistment age 42 (Army), 27 (Air Force), 34 (Navy), 28 (Marines); service obligation 8 years, including 2-5 years active duty (Army), 2 years active (Navy), 4 years active (Air Force, Marines); DoD is eliminating prohibitions restricting women from assignments in units smaller than brigades or near combat units.