Police, not prosecutors, decide formal charges under the South Korean justice system. (Wikimedia Commons)

CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — A U.S. service member stationed in South Korea pleaded guilty to assaulting a taxi driver in Seoul and was fined roughly $2,250 last month.

The unidentified service member admitted to entering the taxi in the Gangnam district of the capital city at 4:11 a.m. Feb. 17, according to an Aug. 14 verdict sheet from the Seoul Central District Court.

South Korean law enforcement agencies and courts typically do not identify defendants except in extreme cases, such as homicide.

After getting into the back seat of the taxi, the 52-year-old driver told the service member that another passenger had already reserved the taxi, according to the court document.

The service member then exited the taxi and walked toward the driver, at which point the driver also left the taxi. The service member then pushed the driver’s chest, choked him and punched him in the face several times, according to the court record.

The assault committed by the service member “is not light” and his conduct during the incident was “very bad,” Judge Goo Changgyu said in the verdict, the document states.

In addition to the $2,250 fine, the service member paid the same amount to the driver as a settlement, according to the document.

Eighth Army referred questions about the incident to U.S. Forces Korea, which did not immediately respond Tuesday morning.

At least one other U.S. service member has been accused of assaulting a South Korean taxi driver this year.

Earlier this month, police from Dongducheon city alleged a U.S. soldier assaulted a taxi driver near Camp Casey, about 25 miles north of Seoul.

The 21-year-old enlisted soldier allegedly threw the 73-year-old driver to the ground by the neck, according to the Dongducheon Police Station. Police may refer charges to prosecutors this week

Roughly 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, the majority of them in Camp Humphreys, about 40 miles south of the capital city.