South Korea Military Deployments

This page tracks publicly reported military deployments involving South Korea: forces South Korea has sent abroad, foreign forces reported on its territory or in its waters, and exercises it leads or joins.

Forces deployed by South Korea

Deploying	Host or area	Branch	Forces and personnel	Status	Date	Verified	Sources
South Korea	Japan	🪖 Ground forces	South Korea: Observers at Keen Sword 27 Not disclosed	Confirmed active	Oct 19, 2026	Oct 19, 2026	Stars and Stripes
South Korea	Gulf of Aden	🚢 Naval forces	South Korea: Cheonghae Unit, 49th rotation: destroyer ROKS Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin, a naval … Not disclosed	Confirmed active	Oct 16, 2026	Oct 16, 2026	The Korea Herald Korea JoongAng Daily
South Korea	United Arab Emirates	🪖 Ground forces	South Korea: Akh Unit, 24th contingent: 145 personnel Not disclosed	Confirmed active	Mar 10, 2026	Mar 10, 2026	The Asia Business Daily
South Korea	Sudan	🪖 Ground forces	South Korea: Hanbit Unit (UN mission in South Sudan) and Dongmyeong Unit (UN mission in Leb… Not disclosed	Confirmed active	Mar 2, 2026	Mar 2, 2026	The Asia Business Daily KEI

Foreign forces in South Korea

Deploying	Host or area	Branch	Forces and personnel	Status	Date	Verified	Sources
United States	South Korea	🏳️ Joint or multiple branches	Freedom Flag 26-2 military exercise Not disclosed	Confirmed active	Oct 23, 2026	Oct 23, 2026	Pacific Air Forces (pacaf.af.mil)
United States	South Korea	🪖 Ground forces	United States: 3rd Cavalry Regiment (“Brave Rifles”), 18th Korea Rotational Force to Camp Hovey, South Korea Not stated	Confirmed active	Oct 16, 2026	Oct 16, 2026	U.S. Pacific Command (pacom.mil)
United States	South Korea	🏳️ Joint or multiple branches	U.S. troops in South Korea 23,495 Official announcement	Confirmed active	—	Nov 5, 2026	DMDC via AP (LiveNOW from FOX)

Other countries

United States military deployments38 recordsRussia military deployments8 recordsChina military deployments7 recordsUnited Kingdom military deployments3 recordsFrance military deployments8 recordsGermany military deployments4 recordsPoland military deployments2 recordsTurkey military deployments9 recordsIsrael military deployments2 recordsIran military deployments1 recordIndia military deployments3 recordsJapan military deployments9 recordsSouth Korea military deployments7 recordsAustralia military deployments4 recordsNATO deployments and operationsAlliance missions and forward presence

Latest military deployment news

Public information only, linked to its source. Estimates and claims are labeled, and locations are given at country or sea-area level. See the full deployments directory or the Military Deployments Tracker.