South Korea holds a 60–40 advantage over Mexico on the Relative Advantage Index, a clear margin.
The margin is driven by military spending (78% of the combined total, $47.8bn) and active personnel (72% of the combined total, 555.0k). Mexico leads on logistics & power projection.
1 factor — nuclear warheads — could not be scored because the figure is unpublished for at least one side. Those factors are excluded and the remaining weights renormalised, never substituted.
| Factor | Mexico | Share | South Korea | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Military spending SIPRI Milex | $13.6bn | 22%78% | $47.8bn | 33% |
Economic size (GDP) World Bank WDI | $1.9tn | 50%50% | $1.9tn | 27% |
Active personnel COW NMC | 216.0k | 28%72% | 555.0k | 20% |
Logistics & power projection OurAirports | 89 | 70%30% | 38 | 20% |
Shares are each side's portion of the combined total for that factor. Weights are renormalised across the factors both sides publish — see the methodology. Data read 2026-08-04.
Every combination inside the top 30 of the Composite Power Index.
Bordering states — the comparisons people actually search for.