Republic of Korea Armed Forces
combined military forces of South Korea
The Republic of Korea Armed Forces (Korean: 대한민국 국군; Hanja: 大韓民國國軍; RR: Daehanminguk Gukgun; lit. 'Republic of Korea National Military'), also known as the ROK Armed Forces, are the armed forces of South Korea. 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 (450,000 active and 3,100,000 reserve).
The Republic of Korea Armed Forces traces its roots back to the establishment of the Korean Republic in 1919 as the armed wing of the Korean government-in-exile and was called the Korean Liberation Army wherein it conducted warfare against the Japanese occupation by conducting large-scale offensives, assassinations, bombings, sabotage, and search and rescue missions. Formally founded in 1948, following the establishment of the South Korean government after the liberation of Korea in 1945, South Korea's military forces are responsible for maintaining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state and also engage in peacekeeping operations, humanitarian and disaster relief efforts worldwide.
Although under South Korean control during peacetime, in wartime they are placed under the command of the United States through the CFC.
History
The origin of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces can be traced back to the Korean Independence Army, which was established by the Provisional Government of Korea in exile in Chongking, Republic of China in 1940 during the Japanese occupation of Korea. Many of its members became part of the South Korean armed forces later. In addition, some ethnic Korean Kuomintang and Manchukuo soldiers also contributed to the forces.
After Korea was liberated from the Empire of Japan on August 15, 1945, the Korean Constabulary (남조선국방경비대) and the Korean Coast Guard (조선해안경비대, organized by Sohn Won-yil and others) were established through the United States Army Military Government in Korea. The Korean Constabulary and the Korean Coast Guard became the Republic of Korea Army and Republic of Korea Navy respectively, and formed the Republic of Korea Armed Forces after the South Korean government was established on August 15, 1948.
The public source identifies “Republic of Korea Armed Forces” as combined military forces of South Korea. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Republic, Korea and Armed.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q495345. VIAF identifies the subject as 156144647698076569745. The Library of Congress control number is n2015057766. None of the 3 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2022, 1919, 1948 and 1945.
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This entry incorporates text from “Republic of Korea Armed Forces” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.