The size of the South Korean army and its place in the world rankings

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In response to North Korea's decision to support Russia in the war against Ukraine, South Korea is considering sending its military and intelligence officers to Ukraine.

The Republic of Korea's armed forces are among the largest and most powerful in the world. In 2024, the South Korean army entered the top five in the Global Firepower ranking.

How many soldiers are there in South Korea and what place does the country occupy in the ranking of world armies, Fakty.com.ua reports.

The size of the South Korean army

Currently, there are 600 thousand servicemen under arms. The military reserve of the army is 3.1 million people. It is worth noting that the army has 354 fighters in reserve, and the total number of aircraft is 1,576. The number of helicopters is 758.

Such a large number of armed forces is due to the fact that South Korea borders on North Korea, with which it has had a long-term conflict. Therefore, the country is forced to maintain a powerful army to protect its borders.

In South Korea, there is compulsory military service for men. This allows the number of armed forces to be maintained at a high level.

Structure of the Armed Forces of the South Korean Army

The armed forces of South Korea consist of three main branches of the armed forces:

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• The Ground Forces are the largest branch of the armed forces, comprising infantry, armored vehicles, artillery, and other units. The Ground Forces are equipped with modern weapons, including tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, artillery systems, and helicopters.
• The South Korean Navy includes destroyers, frigates, submarines, patrol ships, and landing craft. They are responsible for protecting the country's maritime borders and ensuring the safety of sea communications.
• The South Korean Air Force is equipped with modern fighters, bombers, transport aircraft and helicopters. They ensure control of the airspace and provide support to the ground forces.

South Korea: place in the ranking of the world armies

In the annual ranking of the strongest armies in the world, compiled by experts from Global Firepower, the Republic of Korea took fifth place. Last year, South Korea was one step lower and took sixth place. This year, the country overtook Japan, which in 2023 rounded out the top five.

The PI score was 0.1416, which indicates the country's high military potential. Such factors as the size of the army, the defense budget, the number of weapons and other criteria were taken into account. The leaders of the rating were the United States, Russia, China and India.

Power Index (PI) — This is an index that takes into account the number of military units, financial condition, material and technical capabilities and location of the country. The lower the value of this index, the more powerful the combat potential of the country.

Prepared by: Sergey Daga