An American soldier stationed in South Korea has been demoted to a lower rank by a U.S. court-martial on charges of assaulting a South Korean, despite the Korean victim's pleas for leniency in the defendant's sentencing.
The U.S. military paper Stars & Stripes reported that Sergeant John M. Miller was sentenced to 30 days confinement and a reduction in rank to private first class. Miller, who belongs to the 1st Signal Brigade, was arrested in March after a tussle with a Korean man, surnamed Yun. The newspaper added it was unusual to demote the rank of a career servicemen despite the victim's plea for leniency, saying the sentence appears to have been handed down in consideration of anti-American sentiment among the Korean public.