Korea, Dem. People's Rep.

East Asia & Pacific · Pyongyang

Rank #6 of 173

79.4Strength score

Strength by area

Finance77
Air power74
Manpower100
Land forces95
Naval power77
Nuclear48

Finance

Defence budget: $1.6B #74
Budget as % of GDP: —
Spending per person: $60 #101
GDP: —
Population: 26,571,036 #56

Manpower

Active personnel: 1,280,000 #4
Reserve personnel: 600,000 #7
Paramilitary: 5,889,000 #1
Total personnel: 7,769,000 #1

Land forces

Tanks: 4,895 #3
Armoured vehicles: —
Self-propelled artillery: 1,300 #5
Towed artillery: 700 #13
Rocket launchers (MLRS): 1,500 #5

Air power

Total aircraft: 837 #12
Fighter jets: 341 #7
Attack aircraft & bombers: 114 #5
Transport aircraft: 1 #49
Helicopters: 205 #24
Attack helicopters: 20 #17

Naval power

Total naval vessels: 263 #4
Aircraft carriers: 0
Helicopter carriers: 0
Submarines: 24 #5
Destroyers: 2 #13
Frigates: 2 #36
Corvettes: 8 #11
Patrol vessels: 227 #4

Nuclear

Nuclear warheads: 60 #9

Compare with…

Others in the region

3China93.9 VS
7Korea, Rep.77.9 VS
11Japan73.7 VS
17Viet Nam69.4 VS
22Thailand67.5 VS
23Indonesia67.4 VS
25Myanmar66.4 VS
26Singapore65.8 VS

Source

Budget, GDP, population and personnel: World Bank open data (SIPRI / IISS based). (Defence budget: 2018)

IISS Military Balance via Wikipedia (personnel); Global Firepower 2026 inventory lists (equipment); FAS Status of World Nuclear Forces 2026 (warheads) · Year 2026 · ↗