Country Profile
🇰🇷
South Korea
Composite power index · percentile among 118 scored countries#5
WEAKESTP25MEDIANP75STRONGEST
Figures are educated estimates from open reporting or, where marked, formula-modeled. Blank fields are not estimated, not assumed zero.
Overview
South Korea is located in Asia (Eastern Asia). It has an estimated population of 52,000,000, with a nominal GDP of roughly $1,900 billion (about $36,538 per capita). Its armed forces field an estimated 555,000 active-duty personnel, backed by roughly 3,100,000 reservists, ranking #9 of 174 countries in this dataset by active personnel. Estimated annual defense spending is around $48B, roughly 2.5% of GDP. Its inventory includes an estimated 1,590 military aircraft, 2,500 tanks, 230 naval vessels. South Korea's air fleet is assessed as modern and its armored fleet as modern in this dataset's modernity model. South Korea has a moderate-tier documented drone/UAV program. Overall, South Korea ranks #5 of 145 in the military strength index referenced by this dataset.
Auto-generated from the figures on this page — not independently researched prose.
Global Standing percentile per metric
Active Conflicts
No tracked active conflicts involving South Korea. See the Conflict Watch map for all 19 tracked conflicts.
Share of World
of world population
52,000,000 people
of world GDP
$1,900B nominal
of world defense spending
$48B / year
of world active personnel
555,000 soldiers
Economy & Demographics
Manpower
Force Composition3,655,000 total personnel
Active 15%Reserve 85%
Financials & Strategic
Defense burden: 2.5% of GDP
Spend per active soldier: $86k / yr
Soldiers per 1,000 people: 10.7
🛰️Drone / UAV Capability
Moderate
Airpower
Helicopters (Total)
n/a
✈️Air Fleet Modernity
MODERNModernity score 4.3/5.0
Named Aircraft Fleet (229 of 1,590 total)
ESTIMATED
F-35A GEN 5 · STEALTH
40
F-15K GEN 4.5 · ADVANCED
59
KF-16 GEN 4 · MAINSTAY
130
Fleet Modernity Score
4.3 / 5.0
Count-weighted average generation of the named fleet above, NOT raw aircraft count. This is exactly the fix for "600 obsolete jets vs. 300 modern ones": North Korea has more aircraft than most of its neighbors but a modernity score near 2.0 (nearly all Gen 2-3), while the US and Israel score near 4.5-5.0 despite smaller headline totals in some matchups.
Land Power
🛡️Armor Fleet Modernity
MODERNCount-weighted era of the named fleet
Named Tank Fleet (1,760 of 2,500 total)
ESTIMATED
K2 Black Panther ADVANCED
260
K1/K1A1 MODERN
1,500
Era reflects armor generation, not raw count — e.g. North Korea's tank fleet is numerically large but almost entirely Cold War-era T-55/T-62 derivatives, while a much smaller modern Advanced-era fleet (M1A2 Abrams, Leopard 2A7, K2 Black Panther class) typically outmatches it on paper.
Naval Power
⚓Naval Fleet Modernity
MODERNAssessed from known fleet composition (carriers, submarines, major combatants)
Regional Context — Eastern Asia
South Korea ranks #2 of 4 in Eastern Asia on the composite power index. Bars are relative index scores; follow any row to that country's profile.
Compare South Korea 18 matchups
South Korea vs United StatesSouth Korea vs RussiaSouth Korea vs ChinaSouth Korea vs IndiaSouth Korea vs North KoreaSouth Korea vs JapanSouth Korea vs TürkiyeSouth Korea vs Saudi ArabiaSouth Korea vs IranSouth Korea vs PakistanSouth Korea vs EgyptSouth Korea vs GermanySouth Korea vs VietnamSouth Korea vs FranceSouth Korea vs United KingdomSouth Korea vs United Arab EmiratesSouth Korea vs IsraelSouth Korea vs Ukraine
Want a matchup not listed — or South Korea against a whole coalition? Open the Alliance Builder to pick any countries and stack multiple against one.
Economic confidence: High. Military confidence: Medium. Ranks shown as "#x of y" count only countries with a reported value for that metric. The composite power index averages the six category scores (log-scaled against the world leader per metric) and is this site's own model — not an official rating.