A district court here on Wednesday gave a U.S. soldier a suspended prison term for using drugs inside his unit.

The 23-year-old corporal from the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division, whose identity was withheld, was found guilty of smoking a new type of narcotics called "Spice," at Camp Casey on Sept. 3. Camp Casey is the name of the base of the 2nd Infantry Division, located close to the border with North Korea.

Spice refers to a wide variety of herbal mixtures that, when smoked, give users a marijuana-like high. 

The Euijeongbu District Court handed down a three-year sentence, suspended for four years, and imposed a fine of 466,500 won (US$428) on the corporal. 

In the same ruling, three other soldiers from the same division also received suspended terms for the same charge. 

About 28,500 U.S. soldiers serve in South Korea. Their presence is a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty and left the two Koreas technically at war. (Yonhap News)