Kyle Mizokami
After a large army, the second most important arm of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces has historically been the country’s air force. The Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) is the most powerful air force on the Korean Peninsula, with a capability far greater than its northern rival, providing air cover and support to ground forces defending south of the thirty-eighth parallel. Recently, the air force has taken on a new task as Seoul shapes a conventional force to deter North Korea’s nuclear weapons.
South Korea had little to no air force to speak of during the Korean War, but afterward the country was trained and equipped to a high standard. In any North/South rematch the ROKAF could count on facing off against a Korean People’s Army Air Force trained by North Korea’s patrons, equipped with some of the latest communist bloc fighter jets. As part of the postwar air force building process the ROKAF was injected with 122 F-86 and RF-86 Sabre jets, the same flown by American pilots during the war.
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/why-north-korea-should-fear-south-koreas-air-force-22553
