SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's police have asked the local court to issue an arrest warrant for a U.S. service member accused of breaking into the home of an elderly Korean couple in Dongducheon, north of Seoul, and assaulting them, officials said Sunday.

   The unidentified 20-year-old American soldier stationed in Dongducheon, 70 kilometers north of the capital, is in detention on charges of intruding into the home of a 70-year-old man in the border city Saturday morning and attempting to rape his 64-year-old wife, said the officials at the Dongducheon Police Station.

   The U.S. soldier was also accused of attacking the Korean couple with a blunt weapon and robbing the woman of her cell phone after his unsuccessful rape attempt, the officials said, adding that the suspect was under heavy alcohol influence at the time of the crime.

   ycm@yna.co.kr
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