Military of South Korea

Republic of Korea Armed Forces 대한민국 국군 大韓民國國軍 Daehanminguk Gukgun
Flag of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces
Founded	August 15, 1948
Service branches	Republic of Korea Army Republic of Korea Navy  Republic of Korea Air Force
Headquarters	Seoul, South Korea
Leadership
Commander-in-Chief	Park Geun-Hye President of South Korea (suspended)
Minister of National Defense	Han Min-goo
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff	General Lee Soon-Jin, ROKA
Manpower
Military age	Voluntary from 18, mandatory 20 to 38 years of age for male, wartime conscription 18–40 years of age
Conscription	21–24 months depending on the branch
Active personnel	625,000 (2016)
Reserve personnel	3,100,000 (2016)
Deployed personnel	13 nations, 1,104 troops (2016) List of major deployment  Lebanon - 329  Somalia - 302  South Sudan - 293  United Arab Emirates - 146
Expenditures
Budget	₩ 38.8421 trillion (2016)
Percent of GDP	2.40 % (2016)
Industry
Domestic suppliers	List of major suppliers Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Doosan DST Doosan Heavy Industries Doosan Infracore Hanjin Heavy Industries Hanwha Hanwha Techwin Hanwha Thales Hyosung Hyundai Heavy Industries Hyundai Rotem Hyundai Wia Kia Motors Korea Aerospace Industries Korean Air Aerospace Division (KAL-ASD) Kumho Tires LIG Nex1 (formerly LG Innotek) LS Mtron (formerly LG Cable) Poongsan Co. *(known as "PMC Ammo" in the U.S. civilian market) Posco Specialty Steel STX Shipbuilding S&T Dynamics S&T Motiv
Foreign suppliers	List of major suppliers  Belgium  Canada  France  Germany  Israel  Italy  Netherlands  Poland  Russia  Spain  United Kingdom  United States
Related articles
History	Korean War (1950–1953) Vietnam War (1964–1973) Persian Gulf War (1991) War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) Iraq War (2003–2008)
Ranks	Military ranks of South Korea Comparative military ranks of Korea

13 nations, 1,104 troops (2016)
List of major deployment

List of major suppliers

List of major suppliers

The Republic of Korea Armed Forces (Korean: 대한민국 국군; Hanja: 大韓民國國軍; Revised Romanization: Daehanminguk Gukgun, literally "Great Korean Republic National Military") are also known as the ROK Armed Forces, are the armed forces of South Korea. Created in 1948, following the division of Korea, the Republic of Korea Armed Forces is one of the largest standing armed forces in the world with a reported personnel strength of 3,725,000 in 2016 (625,000 active and 3,100,000 reserve). The ROK military forces are responsible for maintaining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the republic, but often engage in humanitarian and disaster-relief efforts nationwide. More recently the ROK military began increasing its participation in international affairs, acknowledging its role and responsibility as the eleventh economic power in the world in terms of GDP. The ROK military has participated in various peacekeeping operations, and counter-terrorism operations.

The South Korean armed forces were largely constabulary forces until the outbreak of the Korean War. It was heavily damaged by North Korean and Chinese attacks and in the beginning relied almost entirely on American support for weapons, ammunition and technology. During South Korea's period of rapid growth, the military expanded accordingly, benefiting from several government-sponsored technology transfer projects and indigenous defense capability initiatives. Modernization efforts for the ROK military have been in place since the 1980s. The GlobalSecurity.org website states that "in 1990 South Korean industries provided about 70 percent of the weapons, ammunition, communications and other types of equipment, vehicles, clothing, and other supplies needed by the military."