Military Power.net

Pakistanvs South Korea

On Global Firepower's 2026 index, South Korea (#5) holds a solid edge over Pakistan (#14).

  • Pakistan has nuclear weapons; South Korea has none.
  • South Korea has destroyers; Pakistan has none.
  • South Korea spends 4× as much on its military.
  1. People and moneyEven, 2–2
  2. Land forcesSouth Korea leads 3 of 5
  3. Air powerSouth Korea leads 4 of 7
  4. Naval forcesSouth Korea leads 5 of 7
  5. Nuclear weaponsPakistan leads 1 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.

$11.9B
Military spending
$47.8B
660K
Active personnel
450K
550K
Reserves
3.1M
500K
Paramilitary
120K

Spending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (Pakistan: 2.9% of GDP; South Korea: 2.6% of GDP).

Land forces

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

2,677
Tanks
1,831
59K
Armored vehicles
117K
662
Self-propelled artillery
2,780
2,629
Towed artillery
5,800
652
Rocket artillery
525

Air power

Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.

1,397
Total aircraft
1,540
331
Fighters
242
90
Attack aircraft
98
379
Helicopters
827
55
Attack helicopters
113
4
Tankers
4
63
Transports
40

Naval forces

Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.

120
Total fleet
215
0
Aircraft carriers
0
0
Helicopter carriers
2
8
Submarines
22
0
Destroyers
14
9
Frigates
18
6
Corvettes
3

Nuclear weapons

Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.

170
Warheads
0
0
Deployed warheads
0

Compare other countries

Related matchups

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