CONFLICTIQ
HEAD TO HEAD

North Korea vs South Korea

North Korea
32%
RAI
South Korea
68%

Verdict

South Korea holds a 68–32 advantage over North Korea on the Relative Advantage Index, a clear margin.

The margin is driven by military spending (97% of the combined total, $47.8bn) and logistics & power projection (58% of the combined total, 38). North Korea leads on active personnel.

2 factors — economic size (GDP), nuclear warheads — could not be scored because the figure is unpublished for at least one side.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 by factor

FactorNorth KoreaShareSouth KoreaWeight
Military spending
SIPRI Milex
$1.6bn
3%97%
$47.8bn45%
Active personnel
COW NMC
1.3m
70%30%
555.0k27%
Logistics & power projection
OurAirports
27
42%58%
3827%

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.

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Every combination inside the top 30 of the Composite Power Index.

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PhilippinesItaly v PolandItaly v RussiaItaly v Saudi ArabiaItaly v South KoreaItaly v SpainItaly v ThailandItaly v TürkiyeItaly v UkraineItaly v United KingdomItaly v United StatesItaly v VietnamJapan v MexicoJapan v MyanmarJapan v North KoreaJapan v PakistanJapan v PhilippinesJapan v PolandJapan v RussiaJapan v Saudi ArabiaJapan v South KoreaJapan v SpainJapan v ThailandJapan v TürkiyeJapan v UkraineJapan v United KingdomJapan v United StatesJapan v VietnamMexico v MyanmarMexico v North KoreaMexico v PakistanMexico v PhilippinesMexico v PolandMexico v RussiaMexico v Saudi ArabiaMexico v South KoreaMexico v SpainMexico v ThailandMexico v TürkiyeMexico v UkraineMexico v United KingdomMexico v United StatesMexico v VietnamMyanmar v North KoreaMyanmar v PakistanMyanmar v PhilippinesMyanmar v PolandMyanmar v RussiaMyanmar v Saudi ArabiaMyanmar v South KoreaMyanmar v SpainMyanmar v ThailandMyanmar v TürkiyeMyanmar v UkraineMyanmar v United KingdomMyanmar v United StatesMyanmar v 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Neighbour rivalries (473)

Bordering states — the comparisons people actually search for.

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NigeriaEquatorial Guinea v Sao Tome and PrincipeEritrea v EthiopiaEritrea v Saudi ArabiaEritrea v SudanEritrea v YemenEstonia v FinlandEstonia v GermanyEstonia v LatviaEstonia v PolandEstonia v SwedenEswatini v MozambiqueEswatini v South AfricaEthiopia v KenyaEthiopia v SomaliaEthiopia v South SudanEthiopia v SudanEthiopia v YemenFiji v TongaFiji v TuvaluFinland v GermanyFinland v LatviaFinland v LithuaniaFinland v NorwayFinland v SwedenFrance v IrelandFrance v LuxembourgFrance v MonacoFrance v NetherlandsFrance v SwitzerlandFrance v TunisiaFrance v VaticanGabon v NigeriaGabon v Sao Tome and PrincipeGambia v SenegalGeorgia v RussiaGeorgia v TürkiyeGeorgia v UkraineGermany v HungaryGermany v LatviaGermany v LithuaniaGermany v LuxembourgGermany v NetherlandsGermany v NorwayGermany v SerbiaGermany v SwedenGermany v SwitzerlandGhana v NigeriaGhana v TogoGreece v LibyaGreece v MaltaGreece v North MacedoniaGrenada v GuyanaGrenada v St. Kitts and NevisGrenada v St. Vincent and the 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Sts. v PalauMicronesia, Fed. 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