SEOUL, May 7 (Xinhua) -- The Seoul District Prosecutors' Office said Monday it has arrested two U.S. soldiers for beating and attempting to rape a female police officer in downtown Seoul last month.

    The soldiers, identified only as a 23-year-old sergeant and a 21-year-old private first class from a U.S. base north of Seoul, are accused of attempting to sexually assault a plain clothes officer in an office bathroom in Seoul on April 5.

    The suspects were caught when a janitor heard a scream and alerted the police, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported.

    According to the prosecutors' office, the U.S. sergeant has confessed to the charges but the private denied them.

    About 29,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea.