Statizoid

South Korea vs Vietnam: Armed forces personnel

South Korea
569,000
in 2020
Vietnam
522,000
in 2020
South Korea rank
11th
Vietnam rank
12th

Armed forces personnel over time

  • South Korea
  • Vietnam
0250.0k500.0k750.0k1.0M1.2M198520022020

How they compare

South Korea currently reports 569,000 against 522,000 in Vietnam, a difference of 47,000.

That makes South Korea's figure about 1.1 times Vietnam's.

The two have swapped places 1 time across 32 shared years of data; in 1985 it was Vietnam ahead.

South Korea ranks 11th and Vietnam ranks 12th of 173 countries.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Armed forces personnel
Source
The Military Balance - International Institute for Strategic Studies, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
173 places, 5,352 data points, 1985–2020
Last refreshed

Armed forces personnel are active duty military personnel, including paramilitary forces if their training, organization, equipment, and control suggest they may be used to support or replace regular military forces.