Military Police (Republic of Korea)

The Republic of Korea Military Police (ROK MP; Korean: 대한민국 국군 군사경찰; Hanja: 大韓民國國軍軍事警察; RR: Daehanminguk Gukgun Gunsagyeongchal), are the uniformed law enforcement agencies of each respective branch of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces.

Once operated under a unified Military Police Command (헌병총사령부, heonbyeong chongsa ryeongbu) between 1953 and 1960,[1] the ROK's MP units are now commanded by the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force HQs separately.

ROK Army MPs also function as a border guards at the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

The reason why these soldiers are MPs is because the armistice that was signed in 1953 that ended the Korean War requires both sides (the North and the South) to restrict access inside the DMZ to MPs only, which means no vehicles, no squad-served weapons (such as mortars and HMGs) and no regular units of the army.

However, in the 1990s, with the continued increase of the threats from their northern counterparts, the ministry of defense assigned a special operations team within the Military Police, which is the Republic of Korea Army Military Police Special Duty Team, also known as the SDT.