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The Arabic language cable news network Al-Jazeera broadcast a video Sunday of a Korean captive begging for his life and demanding that Korea withdraw its troops from Korea. The kidnappers are part of a group led by Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and said that if Korea doesn¡¯t accept demands to withdraw its troops in 24 hours, they would send the head of the Korean, identified as ¡°Kim Sun-il,¡± back to Korea.
The Korean hostage begged, ¡°Korean soldiers, please get out of here. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I know that your life is important, but my life is important." In a phone interview between Qatar-based Al-Jazeera and AP Press, the cable network said the two-minute tape was delivered by mail to its Baghdad bureau. It said it received an unknown package, which the station learned contained a tape when opened.
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Vice Foreign Minister Choi Young-jin is briefed on the details and circumstances of the kidnapping of 33-year-old Korean worker Kim Sun-il at the Ministry building Monday morning./Yonhap
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Al-Jazeera reported the kidnapping of Kim, who works for Gana General Trading, Co., on Monday; on screen, Kim fought back tears and screamed in English, ¡°Save me.¡± The network first broadcasted images of Kim at 12:30 a.m. Monday. He was alone and speaking English, and in particular, as if instructed by the kidnappers to demand the withdrawal of Korean troops, he wailed, ¡°Korean soldiers, please get out of here.¡± Looking haggard, he wailed, ¡°I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I know that your life is important, but my life is important."
After Kim cried in English, three black-hooded resistance fighters appeared on screen and read a statement in Arabic. The exact meaning could not be known, but it did contain the message that if the Korean military weren¡¯t withdrawn in 24 hours, Kim could be killed. Al-Jazeera broadcast the information at 12:30 a.m. Monday.
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Vice Foreign Minister Choi Young-jin held a press conference in the briefing room immediately following the emergency meeting after learning that Korean worker Kim Sun-il was taken hostage by Iraqi insurgents. /Yonhap
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Meanwhile, despite the kidnapping, the government reaffirmed Monday its plans to send troops to Iraq. The government said it would do all it can to see its innocent citizen quickly and safely released, and to do this, it decided to compose a countermeasures committee lead by a Foreign Ministry vice minister and send high-ranking officials from the Foreign Ministry and related bodies to Iraq. These measures were decided upon Monday morning in a National Security Council meeting convened by National Security Advisor Kwon Jin-ho.
Ahead of this, the Korean government announced on June 18 that it would send 3,000 troops to Iraq to help the U.S.-led coalition force in the country. The next day, the government asked Koreans to exercise restraint in traveling to Iraq for fear of terrorist attacks in the wake of the deployment decision. If the Korean deployment is carried out, the Korean contingent will be the third largest in Iraq behind the U.S. and the U.K. The Korean request that travel to Iraq be avoided amidst news of U.S. hostage Paul Johnson¡¯s beheading by a Saudi opposition group.
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Parents of Kim Sun-il mourn at a motel in Cheonan, Chungcheng province Monday, after learning that their son was kidnapped by an Iraqi insurgent group./Yonhap
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Vice Foreign Minister Choi Young-jin held a briefing after the meeting and said, ¡°Our deployment of troops to Iraq is for rebuilding Iraq... There is no change in this basic position.¡± He said, ¡°We will take countermeasures to protect Korean expatriates in Iraq... We once again ask Koreans not to visit Iraq, and ask those citizens in Iraq who can to please leave the country.¡± He also said the government asked for cooperation from the ambassadors of Middle Eastern countries, and that he would send envoys with experience and judgment to Iraq in order to help resolve the situation.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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