What Was Tried in Korea? Courts-Martial 2016–2025
The records hold 152 courts-martial tried in Korea from 2016–2025: 102 Army cases and 50 Air Force cases.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › Korea
Short answer: The records hold 152 courts-martial tried in Korea from 2016–2025: 102 Army cases and 50 Air Force cases. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) was charged in 30% of these cases, compared with 15% across all courts-martial in those years, and 49% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, against 63%.
Sexual Assault and Larceny Charges
132 of the 152 records list the charges, and one case can appear under several articles. Article 120 was charged in 39 cases (30%), compared with 15% across all courts-martial in those years. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 40 cases (30%), against 25%.
Article 121 (larceny) appeared in 20 cases (15%), compared with 8%. Article 128b (domestic violence, numbered since 2019) appeared in 12%, against 8%, and Article 107 (false official statements) in 11%, against 8%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, all courts-martial in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 40 | 30% | 25% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 39 | 30% | 15% |
| Art. 134 General article | 26 | 20% | 20% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 21 | 16% | 16% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 20 | 15% | 8% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence, numbered since 2019 | 16 | 12% | 8% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 15 | 11% | 8% |
| Art. 90 Willfully disobeying superior officer | 7 | 5% | 4% |
Fewer Punitive Discharges
Among 101 enlisted members convicted in Korea, 49 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (49%). Across all courts-martial in those years, the share was 63%. 14 of the 49 discharges were dishonorable.
11 convicted officers or warrant officers appear in the Korea records, and 2 were dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Contested Cases and Acquittals
134 of the 152 records list the plea. 77 accused pleaded guilty and 57 contested at least one charge through a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share, 43%, is higher than the 34% across all courts-martial in those years.
Full acquittals came in 47% of the 55 decided contested cases, compared with 40% across all courts-martial. Another 17 cases ended in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge or specification, but guilty of another.
Pleas differed by charge. Cases charging Article 134 (the general article) ended in a guilty plea 79% of the time (19 of 24). Cases charging Article 120 ended in a guilty plea 24% of the time (9 of 37). The records do not say why an accused pleaded guilty or contested the charges.
Shorter Confinement
112 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 85 of those sentences included confinement (76%). The median confinement was 4 months, shorter than the 6 months across all courts-martial in those years. A quarter of the terms were 1 year or longer.
27 convictions carried no confinement (24%), compared with 16%. 20 of the 112 convictions brought more than one year of confinement (18%), against 25%, and only 2 brought 5 years or more. The largest band was under 6 months, with 51 convictions (46%).
These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all courts-martial in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 27 | 24% | 16% |
| Under 6 months | 51 | 46% | 40% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 14 | 12% | 19% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 18 | 16% | 18% |
| 5 years or more | 2 | 2% | 7% |
Convictions on the Top Charges
Article 120 had the lowest conviction rate among the top charges: 17 of 39 cases ended in a conviction on that article (44%). Those convictions brought a median confinement of 1.9 years, the longest among the top charges.
Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) had the highest rate, 20 of 21 cases (95%), with a median of 5 months. Article 134 ended in a conviction in 23 of 26 cases (88%), with a median of 1 year, and Article 128 in 33 of 40 (82%), with a median of 3 months. One case can include a conviction on one article and an acquittal on another, so the rows overlap.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 40 | 33 (82%) | 3 months |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 39 | 17 (44%) | 1.9 years |
| Art. 134 General article | 26 | 23 (88%) | 1 year |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 21 | 20 (95%) | 5 months |
Services, Installations, and Years
The Army accounts for 102 of the 152 cases and the Air Force for 50. The records hold no Navy or Marine Corps courts-martial in Korea.
Camp Humphreys had the most cases (96), followed by Osan AB, South Korea (37), Kunsan AB, South Korea (13), and Camp Henry (6). Larger installations try more cases of every kind.
The data starts in March 2016. The yearly count was 6 in 2016, 6 in 2017, 3 in 2018, 3 in 2019, 7 in 2020, 26 in 2021, 30 in 2022, 24 in 2023, 25 in 2024, and 22 in 2025.
| Service | Cases |
|---|---|
| Army | 102 |
| Air Force | 50 |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 0 |
Court Level and Rank
87 of the 145 cases with a court level listed were general courts-martial (60%), compared with 54% across all courts-martial in those years. They produced a median confinement of 1 year, and 59% were contested. The 58 special courts-martial produced a median of 3 months, and 25% were contested. The level is not listed for 7 cases. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
76 of the accused were junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 64 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 12 were officers or warrant officers. That mix is more senior than across all courts-martial in those years, where 60% were junior enlisted.
What These Records Cannot Show
The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019, and special trial counsel have decided whether to prosecute covered offenses since December 28, 2023. Both depend on the offense date, which these records do not give. The records also do not describe the evidence or plea terms, and they do not show cases handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Courts-martial at installations in Korea with trial dates in 2016–2025 (152 cases), all services. Navy and Marine Corps plea and forum records are incomplete before 2021.
Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in Military Trial Results, data updated October 24, 2026. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: how this data was built. Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.
Related Analysis
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- Courts-Martial in Hawaii: How the Services Compare, 2016–2025
- Courts-Martial in Japan and Guam: How the Services Compare, 2016–2025
- What Was Tried in Alaska? Courts-Martial 2016–2025
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- Smaller Air Force Installations: 177 Courts-Martial Together
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
About the author. Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts Where All The Bodies Are Buried and runs the Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.