Subscribe

SEOUL – A South Korean man was sentenced last week to 3 1/2 years in prison for the rape of a Camp Casey soldier in Uijeongbu last summer, according to court officials.

The man, a 25-year-old convenience store clerk identified only by his last name of Ju because of privacy concerns, met the soldier at a Uijeongbu nightclub on July 10.

He danced with her and then followed her as she walked to the restroom, according to a Uijeongbu District Court judge. He raped the woman around 3 a.m. in the building’s staircase, police and court officials said.

The chief of the Uijeongbu Police Station’s criminal department said the victim called police when she returned to her base around 8 a.m., and police arrested him later that night. Police were able to identify the man from photos taken at the nightclub by another USFK soldier.

The 18-year-old victim had arrived in South Korea only a week before the incident, according to a Uijeongbu police officer.

Judge Park In-sik said officials considered the aggressive nature of the rape and the victim’s pain in deciding the sentence.

“We also took into consideration the fact that Ju is a first-time offender, and committed his crime unintentionally after drinking and regrets his wrongdoings,” he said.

rowlanda@pstripes.osd.mil

chang.yookyong@pstripes.osd.mil

author picture
Yoo Kyong Chang is a reporter/translator covering the U.S. military from Camp Humphreys, South Korea. She graduated from Korea University and also studied at the University of Akron in Ohio.

Sign Up for Daily Headlines

Sign up to receive a daily email of today's top military news stories from Stars and Stripes and top news outlets from around the world.

Sign Up Now