Korean hostage kidnapped in late May, video shows hostage criticizing U.S.

[leftchick]

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/175/world/Korean_hostage_kidnapped_in_la:.shtml


BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) The South Korean hostage beheaded in Iraq was likely kidnapped at the end of May and not June 17 as initially reported by his employer, a South Korean Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday.

Controversy about when Kim Sun-il was abducted arose after an Islamic militant group made good on threats to kill him when the South Korean government refused to cancel plans to send more troops to Iraq.

In early June before it was widely known that Kim was missing a videotape was delivered to Associated Press Television News in which Kim says in English that he liked the Iraqi people and criticized the United States for the war in Iraq.

APTN did not broadcast the videotape because it was unclear if Kim was being held against his will. But in the first week of June AP asked the Foreign Ministry in Seoul about Kim and was told that the government had no reports of a South Korean in captivity.

[Nyx]

1. Kim planned to take home "shocking pictures"

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200406/kt2004062417493110220.htm

The final letters written by Kim Sun-il just before he was kidnapped by Iraqi insurgents are further deepening the public's sorrow and distress over the precious life lost.

Kim's close friend, Shim Song-dae, disclosed to the public Wednesday several emails that Kim had sent to him in May prior to his kidnapping, which revealed his yearning to return home and see his loved ones.

<snip>

In an email on May 15, Kim excitedly shared with Shim his plans to leave Iraq in late May or early June and take off work for about 20 days. His vacation was later postponed for several weeks.

The letter also showed that Kim harbored negative feelings toward the U.S. and was critical of the actions U.S. soldiers committed toward Iraqis.

"I think I learned how to treat the weak while I have been here... I plan to bring back some shocking pictures of U.S. soldiers' acts of brutality. I will never be able to forget the American's acts of brutality, especially those of Bush and Rumsfeld."

[Barrett808]

2. "shocking pictures of U.S. soldiers' acts of brutality"

Interesting.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Oh, jeez. This doesn't go too far to dislodge suspicions some of us

have concerning aspects of this new stage of terrorist actions, does it?

We're supposed to react on a massive scale emotionally to such spotty information from a far-away place, shrouded in thick clouds of secrecy, disinformation, and no information. We're supposed to get really stoked to support _Bush in any way he moves, trusting him or fearing him enough to stay out of his way, while we pay his bills, and ask for nothing in return.

It's a damned shame this innocent man was swept away as yet more collateral damage in the Republican quest for world domination. They don't have time for peace, when there's so much suffering they can cause people unlucky enough to be different from them, before seizing what ever is left.

I hope his face and voice will haunt their sleepless nights.