Head-to-Head

Japan vs South Korea

Side-by-side military and economic comparison. Blue is Japan, red is South Korea. Every figure links back to its full world ranking.
🇯🇵 Japan
MIL. STRENGTH #8
VS
🇰🇷 South Korea
MIL. STRENGTH #5
124M 52M
👥 Population
$4.2T $1.9T
📈 GDP (Nominal)
$53B $48B
💰 Defense Budget
247k 555k
🪖 Active Personnel
📈 Japan's economy is 2.2× larger
💰 Near-parity in defense budget (1.10×)
🪖 South Korea's active force is 2.2× larger
✈️ Near-parity in air fleet (1.10×)
👥 Japan's population is 2.4× larger
MANPOWERLANDAIRNAVALECONOMYBUDGET
JapanSouth Korea
Fleet Modernity — Quality, Not Just Count
MODERN
✈️ Air Fleet
MODERN
MODERN
🛡️ Armor Fleet
MODERN
ADVANCED
⚓ Naval Fleet
MODERN
MODERATE
🛰️ Drones / UAV
MODERATE
Tiers weight fleet generation and era, not raw counts — a smaller modern fleet often outmatches a larger obsolete one on paper.
Leads More Categories
★ South Korea
Japan wins 1 of 6 · South Korea wins 3 of 6 · 2 tied
Manpower
★ South Korea
Financials
★ Japan
Airpower
★ South Korea
Land Power
★ South Korea
Naval Power
— Tie
Strategic
— Tie
Manpower
★ 124,000,000
👥 Total Population
52,000,000
247,000
🪖 Active Personnel
555,000 ★
56,000
🎖️ Reserve Personnel
3,100,000 ★
n/a
👮 Paramilitary Forces
n/a
Financials
★ $53B
💰 Defense Budget
$48B
★ $4,200B
📈 GDP (Nominal)
$1,900B
Airpower
1,450
✈️ Total Aircraft
1,590 ★
240
🛩️ Fighter Aircraft
400 ★
★ 1,210
🛫 Bombers & Other Aircraft
1,190
n/a
🚁 Helicopters (Total)
n/a
Land Power
1,000
🛡️ Tank Strength
2,500 ★
n/a
🚚 Armored Vehicles
n/a
n/a
💥 Towed Artillery
n/a
Naval Power
155
⚓ Fleet Strength
230 ★
★ 24
🌊 Submarines
22
0
🛳️ Aircraft Carriers
0
Strategic
0
☢️ Nuclear Warheads
0
Full profile
🇯🇵 Japan
Category winners count metric-by-metric leads only; "n/a" values count as zero, so data gaps can skew a category. Cross-check before citing.