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South Korea

South Korea Military Stats

Definitions

  • Air force > Aircraft carriers > Commissioned:

    Amount of aircraft carriers in full service in each country. These numbers can also be interpreted as the amount of each country's commissioned aircraft carriers.   

  • Air force > Bombers: Number of bomber combat aircrafts.
  • Air force > Combat aircraft: Number of fighter aircrafts (fixed wing aircrafts with combat capability).
  • Air force > Fighters: Number of fighter combat aircrafts.
  • Armed forces growth: Growth in the number of armed forces personnel from 1985 (index = 100) to 2000. 100 means no growth, 50 means it halved and 200 means it doubled.
  • Armed forces personnel: Total armed forces (2000)
  • Armed forces personnel per 1000: Total armed forces (2000). Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
  • Arms trade > Arms exports, top countries: Compares the world's largest arms exporters, in millions of US Dollars. Data corresponds to the year 2010, and was compiled by SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute), a think tank dedicated to the research of conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament in the world, with presence in Stockholm, Beijing and Washington DC.
  • Arms trade > Arms exports, top countries per million people: Compares the world's largest arms exporters, in millions of US Dollars. Data corresponds to the year 2010, and was compiled by SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute), a think tank dedicated to the research of conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament in the world, with presence in Stockholm, Beijing and Washington DC. Figures expressed per million people for the same year.
  • Arms trade > Arms imports, top countries: Compares the world's largest arms importers, in millions of US Dollars. Data corresponds to the year 2010, and was compiled by SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute), a think tank dedicated to the research of conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament in the world, with presence in Stockholm, Beijing and Washington DC. For more comprehensive statistics, visit the intitute's databases section
  • Army > Attack helicopters: Number of attack helicopter (includes helicopters that have some attacking capabilities).
  • Army > Main battle tanks: Number of main battle tanks.
  • Branches: The names of the ground, naval, air, marine, and other defense or security forces
  • Budget: Annual defense budget in billion USD.
  • Conscription: A description of the status of conscription in the nation in 1997.
  • Defence spending > Percent of GDP: Defense expenditure as percentage of GDP. Figures are for the year 2010.
  • Expenditure > Current LCU: Military expenditures data from SIPRI are derived from the NATO definition, which includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces; defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects; paramilitary forces, if these are judged to be trained and equipped for military operations; and military space activities. Such expenditures include military and civil personnel, including retirement pensions of military personnel and social services for personnel; operation and maintenance; procurement; military research and development; and military aid (in the military expenditures of the donor country). Excluded are civil defense and current expenditures for previous military activities, such as for veterans' benefits, demobilization, conversion, and destruction of weapons. This definition cannot be applied for all countries, however, since that would require much more detailed information than is available about what is included in military budgets and off-budget military expenditure items. (For example, military budgets might or might not cover civil defense, reserves and auxiliary forces, police and paramilitary forces, dual-purpose forces such as military and civilian police, military grants in kind, pensions for military personnel, and social security contributions paid by one part of government to another.)
  • Expenditures > Dollar figure: Current military expenditures in US dollars; the figure is calculated by multiplying the estimated defense spending in percentage terms by the gross domestic product (GDP) calculated on an exchange rate basis not purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. Dollar figures for military expenditures should be treated with caution because of different price patterns and accounting methods among nations, as well as wide variations in the strength of their currencies
  • Expenditures > Dollar figure per capita: Current military expenditures in US dollars; the figure is calculated by multiplying the estimated defense spending in percentage terms by the gross domestic product (GDP) calculated on an exchange rate basis not purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. Dollar figures for military expenditures should be treated with caution because of different price patterns and accounting methods among nations, as well as wide variations in the strength of their currencies. Figures expressed per capita for the same year.
  • Expenditures > Percent of GDP: Current military expenditures as an estimated percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
  • Global Peace Index: The Global Peace Index is comprised of 22 indicators in the three categories ongoing domestic or international conflicts; societal safety; and security and militarization. A low index value indicates a peaceful and safe country.
  • Gulf War Coalition Forces: Number of troops who served on active duty in the Gulf War theater of operations between August 2, 1990, and June 13, 1991.
  • Manpower > Reaching military age annually > Males: The number of draft-age males and females entering the military manpower pool in any given year and is a measure of the availability of draft-age young adults.
  • Manpower reaching military age annually > Males: This entry is derived from Military > Manpower reaching military age annually, which gives the number of males and females entering the military manpower pool (i.e., reaching age 16) in any given year and is a measure of the availability of military-age young adults.
  • Military branches: This entry lists the service branches subordinate to defense ministries or the equivalent (typically ground, naval, air, and marine forces).
  • Military expenditures: This entry gives spending on defense programs for the most recent year available as a percent of gross domestic product (GDP); the GDP is calculated on an exchange rate basis, i.e., not in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP). For countries with no military forces, this figure can include expenditures on public security and police.
  • Military service age and obligation: This entry gives the required ages for voluntary or conscript military service and the length of service obligation.
  • Navy > Aircraft carriers: Number of aircraft carriers.
  • Navy > Amphibious warfare ships: Number of amphibious warfare ships.
  • Navy > Corvette warships: Number of corvettes.
  • Navy > Cruisers: Number of cruisers.
  • Navy > Destroyers: Number of destroyers.
  • Navy > Frigates: Number of frigates.
  • Navy > Helicopter carriers: Amount of helicopter carriers currently in service.
  • Navy > Nuclear submarines: Number of nuclear submarines.
  • Navy > Patrol boats: Number of patrol boats (Includes minesweepers).
  • Navy > Submarines: Number of patrol boats (includes minesweepers).
  • Nuclear weapons > Non-Proliferation treaty sign date: Signed.

    No date was available from the Wikipedia article, so we used the date of retrieval.

  • Paramilitary personnel: Paramilitary.

    No date was available from the Wikipedia article, so we used the date of retrieval.

  • Personnel: Armed forces personnel are active duty military personnel, including paramilitary forces if the training, organization, equipment, and control suggest they may be used to support or replace regular military forces.
  • Personnel > Per capita: Armed forces personnel are active duty military personnel, including paramilitary forces if the training, organization, equipment, and control suggest they may be used to support or replace regular military forces. Per capita figures expressed per 1,000 population.
  • Personnel per 1000: Armed forces personnel are active duty military personnel, including paramilitary forces if the training, organization, equipment, and control suggest they may be used to support or replace regular military forces. Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
  • Service age and obligation: This entry gives the required ages for voluntary or conscript military service and the length of sevice obligation.
  • WMD > Missile: A description of the nation's situation with regards to the possession and manufacture of missile weapons of mass destruction
  • WMD > Nuclear: A description of the nation's situation with regards to the possession and manufacture of nuclear weapons
STAT AMOUNT DATE RANK HISTORY
Air force > Aircraft carriers > Commissioned 1 2014 8th out of 13
Air force > Bombers 60 2013 6th out of 9
Air force > Combat aircraft 458 2012 1st out of 1
Air force > Fighters 64 2013 9th out of 9
Armed forces growth 14% 2000 57th out of 132
Armed forces personnel 683,000 2000 5th out of 166
Armed forces personnel per 1000 14.53 2000 14th out of 166
Arms trade > Arms exports, top countries 183 2012 14th out of 14
Arms trade > Arms exports, top countries per million people 3.66 2012 13th out of 14
Arms trade > Arms imports, top countries 1,131 2010 4th out of 15
Army > Attack helicopters 0.0 2012 1st out of 1
Army > Main battle tanks 2,429 2012 1st out of 1
Branches Republic of Korea Army, Navy (includes Marine Corps), Air Force 2008
Budget 41.1 US$ BN 2012 1st out of 1
Conscription Conscription exists (AI). 1997
Defence spending > Percent of GDP 2.8% 2008 4th out of 14
Expenditure > Current LCU 20823000000000 2005
Expenditures > Dollar figure $14.52 billion 2003 7th out of 111
Expenditures > Dollar figure per capita $303.43 2003 20th out of 109
Expenditures > Percent of GDP 2.7% 2006 34th out of 100
Global Peace Index 1.82 2013 7th out of 33
Gulf War Coalition Forces 200 1991 27th out of 30
Manpower > Reaching military age annually > Males 371,108 2008 32nd out of 224
Manpower available for military service > Males age 16-49 2013 24th out of 161
Manpower fit for military service > Males age 16-49 2013 23th out of 225
Manpower reaching military age annually > Males 365,760 2012 32nd out of 224
Military branches Republic of Korea Army, Navy (includes Marine Corps), Air Force 2011
Military expenditures 2.7% of GDP 2006 10th out of 13
Military service age and obligation 20-30 years of age for compulsory military service, with middle school education required; 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 2012
Navy > Aircraft carriers 0.0 2012 1st out of 1
Navy > Amphibious warfare ships 18 2012 1st out of 1
Navy > Corvette warships 28 2012 1st out of 1
Navy > Cruisers 0.0 2012 1st out of 1
Navy > Destroyers 12 2012 1st out of 1
Navy > Frigates 9 2012 1st out of 1
Navy > Helicopter carriers 1 2014 5th out of 8
Navy > Nuclear submarines 0.0 2012 1st out of 1
Navy > Patrol boats 83 2012 1st out of 1
Navy > Submarines 18 2012 1st out of 1
Nuclear weapons > Non-Proliferation treaty sign date 1 Jul 1968 (W) 2014
Paramilitary personnel 3.5 million 2014 1st out of 147
Personnel 693,000 2005 8th out of 160
Personnel > Per capita 14.35 per 1,000 people 2005 18th out of 160
Personnel per 1000 14.4 2005 18th out of 159
Service age and obligation 20-30 years of age for compulsory military service, with middle school education required; conscript service obligation - 24-28 months, depending on the military branch involved (to be reduced to 18 months beginning 2016); 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; some 4,000 women serve as commissioned and noncommissioned officers, approx. 2.3% of all officers 2008
WMD > Missile In December 1971, South Korean President Park Chung Hee issued a directive to reverse-engineer the US Nike Hercules air defense missile, a system that can also be used in a surface-to-surface role. Following several failures, South Korea's first successful test of its own version, known as "Paekkom," was conducted in September 1978. In 1979, South Korea entered into a bilateral agreement with the United States that limited South Korean ballistic missiles to a range of 180km with a 500kg payload. The Paekkom program was slashed in December 1982, but was restored in late 1983; an improved version of the Paekkom, called the "Hyonmu," was subsequently developed. South Korea joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in March 2001; membership in the organization supersedes the missile-range agreement concluded earlier with Washington. In January 2002, South Korea announced procurement of the 300km-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) from the United States; South Korea will buy 110 ATACMS by 2004. Seoul is also developing a space launch vehicle with a plan to place a small satellite into low-earth orbit in 2005. 2005
WMD > Nuclear South Korea first became interested in nuclear technology in the 1950s but did not begin construction of its first power reactor until 1970. Changes in the international security environment influenced South Korea's decision to begin a nuclear weapons program in the early 1970s. Under significant pressure from the United States, Seoul abandoned the program and signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in April 1975 before producing any fissile material. In November 1991, President Roh Tae Woo declared that South Korea would not "manufacture, possess, store, deploy, or use nuclear weapons." Two months later, North and South Korea signed the Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of The Korean Peninsula. However, both sides have failed to implement its provision for a bilateral inspection regime. South Korea is an executive board member of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) and is providing most of the financial support for the construction of two light water nuclear reactors in North Korea under the Agreed Framework. Seoul has 18 nuclear power reactors in use and two more under construction. 1991
Weapon holdings 10.3 million 2001 8th out of 137

SOURCES: Wikipedia: List of aircraft carriers in service (List of countries by aircraft carriers); Wikipedia: List of countries by level of military equipment (Combat aircraft by country); Wikipedia: List of countries by level of military equipment (List); calculated on the basis of data on armed forces from IISS (International Institute for Strategic Studies). 2001. The Military Balance 2001-2002. Oxford: Oxford University Press; IISS (International Institute for Strategic Studies). 2001. The Military Balance 2001-2002. Oxford: Oxford University Press; IISS (International Institute for Strategic Studies). 2001. The Military Balance 2001-2002. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Population figures from World Bank: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects, (2) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (3) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (4) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (5) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme, and (6) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database.; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arms_industry#World.27s_largest_arms_exporters

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arms_industry#World.27s_largest_arms_exporters

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
. Population figures from World Bank: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects, (2) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (3) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (4) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (5) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme, and (6) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database.; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arms_industry#World.27s_largest_arms_importers
http://www.sipri.org/googlemaps/2013_of_at_top_20_imp_map.html
, The Top 20 Arms Importers, 2008 –2012; All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008; Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, Switzerland, 1997. Data collected from the nations concerned, unless otherwise indicated. Acronyms: Amnesty International (AI); European Council of Conscripts Organizations (ECCO); Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC); International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHFHR); National Interreligious Service Board for Conscientious Objectors (NISBCO); Service, Peace and Justice in Latin America (SERPAJ); War Resisters International (WRI); World Council of Churches (WCC); Stockholm International Peace Research Institute: The SIPRI Military Expenditure Database; World Development Indicators database; All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008. Population figures from World Bank: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects, (2) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (3) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (4) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (5) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme, and (6) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database.; http://www.visionofhumanity.org/#/page/indexes/global-peace-index, Global Rankings. Vision of Humanity.; "Gulf War Veterans: Measuring Health" by Lyla M. Hernandez, Jane S. Durch, Dan G. Blazer II, and Isabel V. Hoverman, Editors; Committee on Measuring the Health of Gulf War Veterans, Institute of Medicine. Published by The National Academies Press 1999; CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011; CIA World Factbooks 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013; Wikipedia: Helicopter carrier (Helicopter carriers by country); Wikipedia: List of parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (Ratified or acceded states); Wikipedia: List of countries by number of military and paramilitary personnel (The list); World Development Indicators database. Population figures from World Bank: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects, (2) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (3) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (4) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (5) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme, and (6) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database.; The Nuclear Threat Initiative; Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC)

Citation

  • South Korea has ranked last for arms trade > arms exports, top countries since 2003.
  • South Korea ranked second for armed forces personnel amongst High income OECD countries in 2000.
  • South Korea ranked #5 for manpower fit for military service > males age 16-49 amongst Densely populated countries in 2013.

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