A video image released Wednesday (Korean Time) by Al-Jazeera television shows a group of heavily armed gunmen, standing over kidnapped Korean Kim Sun-il. Militants beheaded Kim in Iraq Tuesday after Seoul refused their demand to withdraw its troops and scrap plans to send additional troops./ Al-Jazeera TV

The video even includes the images of the beheading that Al-Jazeera, which first received the video, did not air because they were too gruesome.

With the cooperation of the Police Agency, the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) shut down access to those U.S. websites that carry the video. The video, however, has been rapidly disseminated through those who already downloaded it.

People who accessed the video felt a tremendous shock. They said, “It was so wretched that I could not help crying.” On the other hand, many people have criticized those who have seen the video in saying, “We are seeing the end of mass media,” “People who spread a video like this are no different from murderers,” “Curiosity does not justify everything,” and “You could not help it? Think about the blood and tears the victim might have shed.”

The most worrying thing is that children may happen to see the video through e-mail. Eu Ki-jun, director of the Computer Life, said, “The video is very shocking even to adults, therefore if children come to see it, they may feel traumatized. This clearly shows the two faces of the internet.”

It is confirmed that the video was spread throughout the world by seven U.S. sites, but it has not been found yet how the murderers posted the video on those sites. If the route is tracked, it could lead to arresting the murderers.

Al-Jazeera is the only broadcasting company that is officially confirmed to have received the video from the murderers. Spokesman Gihad Ballot, however, said during a conversation with this reporter over the phone, “We received the video from the group that killed Kim, but we did not sell it anywhere. I think that the group itself may have posted the video on the Internet to spread it.” The video of Nicholas Berg’s beheading was also disseminated in a minute after his murderers posted it on Arab Internet sites.

(englishnews@chosun.com )