South Korea

=== Military ===
{{Main|Republic of Korea Armed Forces}}[[File:ROKS Sejong the Great (DDG 991) broadside view.jpg|thumb|[[Republic of Korea Navy|ROKN]] Sejong the Great, a [[Sejong the Great-class destroyer|''Sejong the Great'']]-class [[guided-missile destroyer]] built by [[Hyundai Heavy Industries]]]]

Unresolved tension with North Korea has prompted South Korea to allocate 2.6% of its GDP and 15% of all government spending to its military (government share of GDP: 14.967%), while maintaining compulsory conscription for men.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} Consequently, the ROK Armed Forces is one of the largest and most powerful standing armed forces in the world with a reported personnel strength of 3,600,000 in 2022 (500,000 active and 3,100,000 reserve).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Public Notebook |url=https://www.mnd.go.kr/user/mnd/upload/pblictn/PBLICTNEBOOK_202302161200208490.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216075613/https://www.mnd.go.kr/user/mnd/upload/pblictn/PBLICTNEBOOK_202302161200208490.pdf |archive-date=2023-02-16 |access-date=2023-02-16}}</ref>

The South Korean military consists of the [[Republic of Korea Army|Army]] (ROKA), the [[Republic of Korea Navy|Navy]] (ROKN), the [[Republic of Korea Air Force|Air Force]] (ROKAF), and the [[Republic of Korea Marine Corps|Marine Corps]] (ROKMC), and reserve forces. Many of these forces are concentrated near the Korean Demilitarized Zone. All South Korean males are constitutionally required to serve in the military, typically 18 months.<ref>{{cite news |author=Lee Tae-hoon |date=30 September 2009 |title=Military Duty Exemption for Biracial Koreans Will Be Scrapped |work=[[The Korea Times]] |location=Seoul |url=http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/10/116_52759.html |access-date=18 February 2010 |archive-date=17 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117202320/http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/10/116_52759.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In addition [[Korean Augmentation to the United States Army]] is a branch of the Republic of Korea Army that consists of Korean enlisted personnel who are augmented to the Eighth United States Army. In 2010, South Korea spent [[South Korean won|₩]]1.68 trillion in a cost-sharing agreement with the U.S. to provide budgetary support to the U.S. forces in Korea, on top of the ₩29.6 trillion budget for its own military.

[[File:K2 black panther3.jpg|thumb|left|The South Korean-developed [[K2 Black Panther]], built by [[Hyundai Rotem]]]]

From time to time, South Korea has sent its troops overseas to assist American forces. It has participated in most major conflicts that the United States has been involved in the past 50 years. South Korea dispatched 325,517 troops to fight in the [[Vietnam War]], with a peak strength of 50,000.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Heo |first1=Man-ho |date=25 March 2009 |title=North Korea's Continued Detention of South Korean POWs since the Korean and Vietnam Wars North Korea's Continued Detention of South Korean POWs since the Korean and Vietnam Wars |journal=Man-ho Heo |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=141–165 |doi=10.1080/10163270209464030}}</ref> In 2004, South Korea sent 3,300 troops of the [[Zaytun Division]] to help rebuilding in northern [[Iraq]], and was the third largest contributor in the [[Multi-National Force – Iraq|coalition forces]] after the U.S. and Britain.<ref>{{cite web |title=Zaytun Division official website |url=http://www.army.mil.kr:7081/zaytun2/english/index.jsp |access-date=17 February 2009}}{{dead link|date=February 2009}}</ref> Beginning in 2001, South Korea had deployed 24,000 troops in the Middle East region to support the [[war on terror]].

[[File:해군 독도함 (7438321572).jpg|thumb|left|[[ROKS Dokdo]], the lead ship of the {{sclass|Dokdo|amphibious assault ship}}, built by [[Hanjin Heavy Industries]]]]
The right to [[conscientious objection]] was not recognized in South Korea until recently. Over 400 men were typically imprisoned at any given time for refusing military service for political or religious reasons in the years before right to conscientious objection was established.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wri-irg.org/en/programmes/world_survey/country_report/en/Korea,+South|title=Country report and updates: Korea, South – War Resisters' International|website=www.wri-irg.org|date=15 June 2023|access-date=18 September 2023|archive-date=30 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220930202934/https://www.wri-irg.org/en/programmes/world_survey/country_report/en/Korea,+South|url-status=live}}</ref> On 28 June 2018, the South Korean Constitutional Court ruled the Military Service Act unconstitutional and ordered the government to accommodate civilian forms of military service for conscientious objectors.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/28/world/asia/south-korea-military-service-conscientious-objectors.html|title=South Korea Must Offer Alternatives to Military Draft, Court Rules|last=Choe|first=Sang-Hun|date=2018-06-28|website=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=2019-03-17|archive-date=20 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230620165531/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/28/world/asia/south-korea-military-service-conscientious-objectors.html|url-status=live}}</ref> On 1 November 2018, the South Korean Supreme Court legalized conscientious objection as a basis for rejecting compulsory military service.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/01/asia/south-korea-conscientious-objectors-intl/index.html|title=South Korea's top court legalizes conscientious objection after decades-long fight|last1=Kwon|first1=Jake|last2=Griffiths|first2=James|date=2018-11-01|publisher=CNN|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107095357/https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/01/asia/south-korea-conscientious-objectors-intl/index.html|archive-date=2018-11-07|access-date=2018-11-28}}</ref>

==== United States contingent ====
The United States has stationed a substantial contingent of troops to defend South Korea. There are approximately 28,500 U.S. military personnel stationed in South Korea,<ref>{{cite news |date=26 February 2007 |title=America's Unsinkable Fleet |work=Newsweek |location=New York |url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/68465 |access-date=17 February 2009 |archive-date=30 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120130152045/http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2007/02/25/america-s-unsinkable-fleet.html |url-status=live }}</ref> most of them serving one year unaccompanied tours. The U.S. troops, which are primarily ground and air units, are assigned to [[United States Forces Korea]] and mainly assigned to the [[Eighth United States Army|Eighth Army]], [[Seventh Air Force]], and [[United States Naval Forces Korea|Naval Forces Korea]]. They are stationed in installations at [[Osan]], [[Kunsan]], Yongsan, [[Dongducheon]], Sungbuk, [[Camp Humphreys]], and [[Daegu]], as well as at [[Camp Bonifas]] in the DMZ [[Joint Security Area]].

A fully functioning [[United Nations Command|UN Command]] is at the top of the [[chain of command]] of all forces in South Korea, including the U.S. forces and the entire South Korean military&nbsp;– if a sudden escalation of war between North and South Korea were to occur the United States would assume control of the South Korean armed forces in all military and paramilitary moves. There has been long-term agreement between the United States and South Korea that South Korea should eventually assume the lead for its own defense. This transition to a South Korean command has been slow and often postponed, although it is currently scheduled to occur in the 2020s.<ref>{{cite news |date=22 February 2018 |title=Allies' future command to be led by S. Korean general: minister |work=[[Yonhap News Agency]] |url=http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2018/02/22/0200000000AEN20180222009000315.html |access-date=28 March 2024 |archive-date=11 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180311140722/http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2018/02/22/0200000000AEN20180222009000315.html |url-status=live }}</ref>