| South Korea Confirms Hostage Beheaded | ||||||||||
Tuesday, June 22, 2004 
The South Korean foreign ministry issued a statement confirming that businessman Kim Sun-il (search) had been killed by his kidnappers, according to Yonhap, the South Korean news agency. The Arabic-language satellite television channel Al-Jazeera first reported Kim's death, saying it had received a videotape showing his beheading. It did not say how it got the tape, or when Kim had been killed. Kim's body was found west of Baghdad by U.S. personnel at 5:20 p.m. Iraq time, South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Shin Bong-kil told Yonhap. The South Korean embassy in Baghdad confirmed the body was Kim's by studying an e-mailed photograph, Shin said. "It breaks our heart that we have to announce this unfortunate news," he added. Kim had been held by suspected Al Qaeda-linked abductors, who originally said they would kill him Tuesday. They extended that deadline during negotiations, according to Ahmed al-Ghreiri, an employee of the NKTS security firm that had been acting as an intermediary.  But his captors apparently changed their mind and executed Kim anyway. Kim was shown on a new videotape kneeling, blindfolded and wearing an orange jumpsuit similar to those issued to prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba — and to those that hostages Nick Berg and Paul Johnson wore during their own beheadings. The tape showed five hooded men standing behind Kim, one reading a statement and gesturing with his right hand. Another captor had a big knife slipped in his belt. One of the masked men said the message was intended for the Korean people. "This is what your hands have committed," he read. "Your army has not come here for the sake of Iraqis, but for cursed America." Al-Jazeera did not show Kim being executed. The Al Qaeda-linked group Monotheism and Jihad took responsibility for Kim's death, according to Al-Jazeera. The White House reacted with outrage. "Obviously that would be horrible news to hear," said Press Secretary Scott McClellan. There is "simply no justification for those kinds of atrocities." On Friday, Lockheed Martin engineer Paul Johnson Jr. (search), an American who'd lived in Saudi Arabia for about a decade, was beheaded by his Al Qaeda-linked captors near Riyadh. Last month, American Nicholas Berg (search) was beheaded in Iraq, possibly by the hand of Al Qaeda-linked terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. In early 2002, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and beheaded in Karachi, Pakistan by Al Qaeda abductors. Earlier Tuesday, the Seoul (search) government said it would evacuate all civilians in Iraq by early July. NKTS official Kim Hyun-taek said earlier Tuesday the captors had asked to negotiate with Choi Sung-gap, president of the company, who planned to leave for Iraq as early as Wednesday afternoon. His captors had originally threatened to kill the 33-year-old Kim if the South Korean government did not cancel its planned deployment of 3,000 troops to Iraq by early Tuesday. But the president of NKTS, which supplies the bodyguards for Jordan's royal family, said earlier Tuesday that they'd dropped that demand and put forth new demands that Seoul was willing to meet. "It is highly likely we will see a resolution because in Iraq they have a good impression about South Korea," said Choi, who made the comments to South Korean reporters on Tuesday before news of Kim's execution broke. The South Korean government said Tuesday it will evacuate the last of its 22 nationals in Iraq by early next month. Most work for South Korean companies that supply the U.S. military, said Commerce, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Hee-beom. Kim, who works for a trading company in Baghdad, was believed to have been kidnapped about 10 days ago. A videotape broadcast by Al-Jazeera before the most recent one of him in a jumpsuit showed him pleading for his life but without a blindfold and still wearing his own clothes. The recent abductions and attacks appear aimed at undermining the interim Iraqi government set to take power June 30, when the U.S.-led occupation formally ends. The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
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피랍 김선일씨 끝내 피살
알 자지라, 참수 직전 장면 보도…팔루자 도로서 시신 발견
무장단체 "한국인, 이라크 위해 온 것 아니다"
金씨, 숨지기전 눈 가리고 무릎 꿇은채 울먹여
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| ▲ 23일 피랍된 김선일씨가 끝내 살해됐다는 소식을 접한 김씨의 가족들이 오열하고 있다./ 로이터뉴시스 ☞ 피랍 김선일씨 끝내 피살 관련화보 ☞ 故 김선일씨 추모 사이버 분향소 | ||||
김씨를 납치한 이라크 무장단체는 우리 정부가 이라크 추가 파병 방침을 철회하지 않자 김씨를 살해한 것으로 보인다.
알 자지라 방송은 22일 오후(현지시각) “김씨가 피살됐음을 증명하는 테이프를 받았다”고 보도했다. 이 방송은 국제테러조직인 알 카에다와 관련된 무장단체인 ‘알 타우히드 알 지하드’가 김씨를 참수했다고 밝혔으며, 이어 무장단체가 보내온 비디오 테이프를 방영했다.
살해하기 바로 직전을 보여주는 이 테이프에서 괴한들은 “이것은 당신들의 손이 저지른 일”이라면서 “당신들의 군대는 이라크인들을 위해 이곳에 온 것이 아니라 저주받을 미국을 위해 왔다”고 주장했다.
알 자지라는 김씨가 사망하는 장면은 방송하지 않았지만 진행자는 김씨가 참수됐다고 말했다.
김씨는 복면을 한 무장세력 앞에서 무릎을 꿇고 어깨를 들썩거리고 울먹이며 숨을 쉬듯이 입을 벌리고 있었다. 김씨는 밝은 오렌지색 옷을 입고 있었고, 눈은 가려져 있었다.
외교통상부 신봉길 대변인은 23일 오전 2시 공식 브리핑을 통해 김씨 피살 사실을 발표했다. 신 대변인은 “한국시각으로 22일 오후 10시20분(바그다드 시각 오후 5시20분) ‘바그다드에서 팔루자 방향으로 35㎞ 떨어진 도로에 동양인으로 보이는 시신이 발견됐다’고 미군 당국으로부터 연락을 받고, 이라크 우리 대사관은 오후 11시쯤 이 사실을 서울에 보고한 데 이어, 23일 0시45분 이메일로 보내온 시신의 사진을 확인한 결과, 김선일씨로 확인됐다고 추가로 보고해 왔다”고 밝혔다.
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| ▲ 알 자지라에 방송된 김선일씨의 마지막 생전 모습./연합 ☞관련화보 보기 | |
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| ▲ 23일 오전 외교부 청사 회의실에서 김선일씨 피살사건의 당.정.청.합동대책회의에 앞서 반기문외교통상부장관과 이종석 NSC 사무차장.조영길국방장관이 후속대책을 논의하고 있다./ 연합 | |
 An earlier tape showed Mr Kim pleading for his life |
The body of translator Kim Sun-il, 33, had been found, the foreign ministry said. The al-Jazeera TV station reported that he was beheaded.
Mr Kim was working for a security company supplying the US military when he was abducted last week near Falluja.
South Korea rejected demands that it end its military role in Iraq in return for Mr Kim's life.
 |  This is what your hands have committed - your army has not come here for the sake of Iraqis, but for cursed America  Militants' statement |
Arabic satellite channel al-Jazeera said it had received a new video tape saying that Mr Kim had been killed by a group identifying itself as Jamaat al-Tawhid and Jihad.
Last month, the same group - led by a top al-Qaeda member, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi - beheaded American hostage Nick Berg. It has also been responsible for a number of other attacks, including the killing of Iraqi Governing Council head Ezzedine Salim.
In the latest footage aired on al-Jazeera, Mr Kim was shown kneeling on the ground in front of five masked men.
His shoulders were heaving, his mouth open. He wore a bright orange jumpsuit and matching blindfold.
The part of the tape broadcast did not show him dead, but the presenter said Mr Kim had been beheaded.
One of the masked kidnappers read a statement addressed to the Korean people, saying: "This is what your hands have committed. Your army has not come here for the sake of Iraqis, but for cursed America."
'I don't want to die'
Seoul earlier insisted it would go ahead with plans to deploy 3,000 troops to northern Iraq, to add to a force of 600 already in the country.
A previously released two-minute tape of Mr Kim begging for his life - first shown on al-Jazeera on Sunday - has seared itself into the consciousness of South Korea, our correspondents say.
Mr Kim was seen screaming: "Korean soldiers, please get out of here. I don't want to die. My life is important."
Hundreds of ordinary South Koreans e-mailed al-Jazeera trying to convey appeals for mercy to the militants.
The video showed the hostage surrounded by armed men wearing masks.
