South Korean hostage beheaded in Iraq

SEOUL (AsiaNews/AP)  - A South Korean hostage in Iraq was killed despite government efforts to release him. The South Korean Foreign Ministry confirmed a report onthe pan-Arab al-Jazeera station that Kim Sun-il, a 33-year-old man whose captors had threatened to behead him,was dead.

Kim's body was found by the U.S. military between Baghdad and Fallujah, west of the capital, at 10:20 p.m. Tuesday Korea time (5:20 p.m. Iraq time), said Shin Bong-kil, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry.

The South Korean embassy in Bagdad confirmed that the body was Kim by studying a picture of the remains it received by e-mail, Shin said. "It breaks our heart that we have to announce this unfortunate news," he said.

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