The 21-year-old U.S. Army private of the 2nd Infantry Division stationed in Dongducheon, 40 kilometers north of Seoul, was convicted of raping the 18-year-old woman in the early hours of Sept. 24 near his unit.

The private broke into the young woman's small, rented studio apartment and sexually assaulted and tormented her after threatening her with a pair of scissors. Before running away, he also robbed her of 5,000 won (US$4.50).

"The victim had to shudder with fear and sexual insult at her own home while the accused satisfied his sexual desire through three hours of violent and abnormal assault," Judge Park In-sik of the Euijeongbu District Court said in a verdict.

"He deserves a stern punishment as there were no efforts to compensate the victim or remedy the assault."

Prosecutors had sought a 15-year jail term, the maximum penalty allowed by law for rape.

The court also ordered him to undergo 80 hours of a compulsory therapy program and have his name and personal information be released to the public as part of the punishment.

The latest punishment was the second heaviest for crimes committed by a U.S. soldier in the country since another young soldier was sentenced to 15 years in jail for raping and cruelly killing a South Korean sex worker in 1992.

A recent spate of appalling crimes by U.S. soldiers, including another Army private accused of a similar rape charge, has prompted strong public calls to revamp the country's Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the U.S.

The pact grants the U.S. military jurisdiction over its soldiers accused of local crimes, preventing South Korean authorities from having full-fledged law enforcement capabilities. (Yonhap News)