Seoul police probe US soldier accused of raping Korean teen

An American soldier is under investigation for sexual assault on a teenage Korean girl in Seoul, following a similar incident in the northern Seoul suburb of Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province.

The Mapo Police Station in Seoul said Friday that the 21-year-old private from the 1st Communications Brigade of the 8th U.S. Army allegedly committed a sexual assaulted on an 18-year-old girl. He is known to have broken into her rented room in Seoul’s Mapo district and stole her laptop computer worth 1 million won (847 U.S. dollars).

According to police, the soldier was introduced to the victim by his colleague on Sept. 17 at 2 a.m., and the three and the victim’s friend spent time at a club in Seoul`s posh Apgujeong-dong neighborhood.

The victim’s friend is fluent in English and got acquainted with the suspect’s colleague. The two agreed to bring each other’s friends and hang out and brought along the suspect and the victim. They went to a bar at 3 a.m. the same day and drank until 4 a.m.

When the victim could not walk steady due to heavy drinking, her friend and the two soldiers took her to her room and left her there without locking the door. The victim’s friend left, saying, “I`ll go to another friend’s home as this room is too small to stay together.”

The two soldiers drank beer at a nearby convenience store before parting.

The suspect then went back to the victim’s room around 5:45 a.m. to rape her as she slept and then took her laptop computer. The victim is known to have been so drunk, she failed to wake up though raped.

The victim is going to high school in the provinces and came to Seoul to attend a private cram school for college entrance.

The victim called police the day after the rape and police confirmed the soldier’s identity and reported him to U.S. forces. The suspect was called in by police for questioning Wednesday.

He initially denied having sexual intercourse with her, but after investigators showed footage taken by a security camera installed in the victim`s room, he said the sex was consensual.

When investigators questioned him further, the suspect kept mum and simply said he wanted a lawyer with him.

Mapo police sent his hair and other pieces of evidence collected at the victim`s room to the National Forensic Service for DNA testing. After grilling him again Wednesday, police will transfer the case to prosecutors.

Separately, prosecutors in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, indicted Thursday another American soldier from the 2nd Brigade of the U.S. Army on the charge of sexual assault of an underage girl.

ryu@donga.com