South Korean police investigators say they will question a U.S. soldier suspected of setting fire to a bar in Seoul Tuesday morning.

The soldier is suspected of pouring oil on a stove in a bar located in Itaewon, an area popular with foreign tourists.

Crimes committed by U.S. forces stationed in South Korea have angered local citizens and been a major source of friction between the two countries. An American serviceman was sentenced earlier this month to 10 years in prison for the brutal sexual assault of a teenage girl.

Large-scale protests broke out in 2002 after a U.S. armored vehicle killed two schoolgirls in a traffic accident.

About 28,500 U.S. troops are in South Korea to help defend the country against any threat from North Korea.