In the last newsletter, I gave you a brief overview of North Korea's military capabilities. This time, we will take a look at the armed forces of South Korea. The South Korean Army has 11 corps, approximately 50 divisions and 20 brigades. That gives the South Koreans about 560,000 troops, 2,200 tanks, 4,850 pieces of field artillery, and 2,200 armored vehicles. The North Korean army may be quantitatively superior to the South, but that only tells part of the story. South Korean equipment is generally superior. The most telling example of this is a comparison of main battle tanks. The North has 3,800 tanks, but less than 800 of these are T-62 tanks and the T-62 is the most modern tank in the North Korean inventory. By 1990, the South had modernized its M-48 Patton tanks and provided them with more armor, night vision and new 105mm guns using a range finder and a ballistic calculator. This makes them comparable to the US M-60 series of tanks; a tank series known to be superior to the T-62. Even worse for the North, the South begin building a new series of main battle tanks, the Type 88 Kl. By 1990, the South had 200 of these tanks in their inventory. This tank has it all: computerized fire control, laser rangefinder, thermal imaging, advanced armor, excellent mobility, a powerful 105mm gun and a separate sighting system that allows the commander to line up the next target for the gun while the gunner is busily destroying the current target! South Korean infantry units are organized as combined armed forces with armor and artillery forces subordinate to the division or brigade commander. South Korea has also created two new mechanized divisions, each with a mix of nine armored or mechanized infantry battalions and a cavalry battalion. The South Korean Army is well supported by AH-1 Cobra and MD5 00 Defender attack helicopters with TOW missiles. It is hard to imagine North Korea's tanks and other armored vehicles surviving long against the South's armor and helicopters. The only real weakness for the South's ground forces is in antiaircraft capabilities. Their old Nike SAM systems have proven to be unreliable. However, improvements are forthcoming. Fear of the North's missile programs has led to funding for a new SAM system capable of engaging missiles. Furthermore, the South has begun to deploy an excellent SPAA gun system, the K30. It has twin 30mm cannon with an advanced fire control system. This will significantly improve the army's antiaircraft capabilities. Air Force The South Korean Air Force is also superior to that of the North. The South's 153 F-16's, 185 F-5's and 130 F-4 Phantoms would find easy pickings against the elderly Migs that make up the bulk of the North's Air Force. The only plane that the North has that has a chance against the South is the Mig-29 and they only possess 40 of these. The F- 16 is more than a match for the Mig-29. Furthermore, the balance becomes much worse when U.S. air assets are factored into the equation. The South would have total air superiority in a very short period of time in the next conflict on the peninsula. The balance will only swing more in the South's favor as they begin to acquire new F-15 fighter aircraft from the U.S. Navy The South Korean Navy is a highly capable regional defense force. The South has 24 corvettes with Exocet sea-skimming missiles, 9 destroyers, 9 frigates, 8 submarines and more. The newest South Korean ships are converting the navy into a true blue water force. The KDX-1 destroyer is a very modern vessel with Harpoon missiles, Seasparrow SAM's, helicopter capability and advanced electronics. The KDX-2 will be more capable, with vertical launch weapons systems. The KDX-3 will have Aegis fire control technology. The new FFX frigates will complement the advanced KDX destroyers. The North Korean Navy doesn't have a prayer, even without factoring in the USN! It is plain to see that the North Koreans only window of opportunity is now. The balance is already against them and it is only getting worse. The North doesn't have the resources and industrial capabilities to compete with the modernization of the South's military. Perhaps the North needs to spend more of its efforts in the diplomatic realm, luring China into an alliance? North Korea: Part 1 Strategic Balance 2003 Back to Table of Contents The Messenger May 2003 Back to The Messenger List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2003 by HMGS/PSW. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles covering military history and related topics are available at http://www.magweb.com