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US solder jailed for rape in South Korea US solder jailed for rape in South Korea
(about 1 hour later)
By Lucy Williamson BBC News, Seoul A US soldier based in South Korea has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for raping a teenager near his base.
A US serviceman based in South Korea has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for raping a local woman near his unit, reports say. The 21-year-old broke into the studio room of the woman and carried out a sexual attack lasting several hours, threatening her with scissors.
The 21-year-old was convicted by a South Korean court for the crime, carried out in September. The judge called it a "violent and abnormal assault".
Reports say he broke into the flat of an 18-year-old Korean woman, and carried out a sustained sexual attack lasting several hours. The sentence was one of the longest given to a US solder in South Korea. US government and military officials have apologised publicly for the rape.
The sentence was one of the longest given to a US solder in South Korea. Crimes committed by US soldiers in the past have sparked public protests against the American military presence in South Korea.
The judge described it as a "violent and abnormal assault", according to the Yonhap news agency. The soldier, whose name has not been made public, attacked the 18-year-old in the early hours of 24 September.
The attack took place in the early hours of the morning, near the man's unit north of Seoul. He broke into her room near the his base in Dongducheon city.
America has more than 28,000 troops stationed in South Korea - a legacy from the Korean War 60 years ago. The court said the soldier had also stolen 5,000 won ($4.50; £2.80) from the woman before he fled.
Serious crimes by American troops have sparked large protests in the past - over the question of who has jurisdiction to try them in criminal cases. "He deserves a stern punishment as there were no efforts to compensate the victim or remedy the assault," said the judge.
America has jurisdiction over its Korea-based soldiers. America has more than 28,000 troops stationed in South Korea - a legacy from the 1950-53 Korean War.
But military officials say that, in recent years, they have honoured every request from the South Korean authorities to try American personnel accused of serious crimes. The BBC's Lucy Williamson in Seoul says much of the public anger over their presence surrounds the question of who has jurisdiction to try them in criminal cases.
The military pact between the two countries states that America has jurisdiction to try its South Korea-based soldiers.
But military officials say in recent years they have honoured every request from the South Korean authorities to try American personnel accused of serious crimes, our correspondent adds.
The heaviest sentence handed down by a South Korean court was for a US soldier convicted of murder in the early 1990s. He was jailed for life, but later had his sentenced commuted and was freed in 2006.