Military Power.net

South Koreavs United States

On Global Firepower's 2026 index, the United States (#1) holds a narrow edge over South Korea (#5).

  • The United States has nuclear weapons; South Korea has none.
  • The United States has aircraft carriers; South Korea has none.
  • The United States spends 20× as much on its military.
  1. People and moneyEven, 2–2
  2. Land forcesUnited States leads 3 of 5
  3. Air powerUnited States leads 7 of 7
  4. Naval forcesUnited States leads 6 of 7
  5. Nuclear weaponsUnited States leads 2 of 2

Leads count raw numbers in each category. Larger is not always stronger: a modern fleet can beat a bigger, older one.

People and money

Who can be put in uniform, and how much is spent keeping them there.

$47.8B
Military spending
$954B
450K
Active personnel
1.33M
3.1M
Reserves
800K
120K
Paramilitary
0

Spending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (South Korea: 2.6% of GDP; United States: 3.1% of GDP).

Land forces

Armour and artillery: the weight an army can put on the ground.

1,831
Tanks
4,666
117K
Armored vehicles
410K
2,780
Self-propelled artillery
1,521
5,800
Towed artillery
1,878
525
Rocket artillery
1,731

Air power

Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.

1,540
Total aircraft
13,032
242
Fighters
1,791
98
Attack aircraft
926
827
Helicopters
5,913
113
Attack helicopters
1,024
4
Tankers
610
40
Transports
917

Naval forces

Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.

215
Total fleet
465
0
Aircraft carriers
11
2
Helicopter carriers
9
22
Submarines
66
14
Destroyers
83
18
Frigates
0
3
Corvettes
27

Nuclear weapons

Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.

0
Warheads
3,700
0
Deployed warheads
1,770

Compare other countries

Related matchups

Profiles: South Korea and United States. Sources: Global Firepower 2026, SIPRI Military Expenditure 2025 (Apr 2026), SIPRI Yearbook 2026: World Nuclear Forces.