Militants have beheaded a South Korean hostage in Iraq after Seoul refused their demand to withdraw its troops from the country and cancel plans to send more, the Arabic satellite channel Al Jazeera says.
South Korea confirmed the death of hostage Kim Sun-il and said his body had been found. Foreign Ministry spokesman Shin Bong-kil told reporters the U.S. military had found the corpse and informed South Korean officials.
Jama'at al-Tawhid and Jihad, a group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi who has been accused by Washington of links to al Qaeda, had said Kim would be beheaded if their demands were not met. In a video shown on Jazeera early on Monday, the 33-year-old hostage was shown pleading for his life.
Since early April, dozens of foreign hostages have been seized in Iraq, many around Falluja. Most have been freed but at least three have been killed by their captors, including U.S. entrepreneur Nicholas Berg who was beheaded by Zarqawi's group. U.S. officials say Zarqawi himself wielded the knife.
Earlier, hopes in South Korea had risen even though the captors' initial deadline had passed, as an Iraqi mediator said the kidnappers had allowed more time for talks.
Kim, an Arabic speaker and evangelical Christian, had worked in Iraq for a year as a translator for a Korean firm supplying goods to the U.S. army.
He was seized on June 17 in Falluja, a flashpoint city in the anti-U.S. insurgency 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad.
A Seoul commerce ministry spokeswoman said all South Koreans working for firms in Iraq were likely to leave the country by early next month.
South Korea has 670 military medics and engineers in Iraq and plans to send another 3,000 troops.
South Korea confirmed the death of hostage Kim Sun-il and said his body had been found. Foreign Ministry spokesman Shin Bong-kil told reporters the U.S. military had found the corpse and informed South Korean officials.
Jama'at al-Tawhid and Jihad, a group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi who has been accused by Washington of links to al Qaeda, had said Kim would be beheaded if their demands were not met. In a video shown on Jazeera early on Monday, the 33-year-old hostage was shown pleading for his life.
Since early April, dozens of foreign hostages have been seized in Iraq, many around Falluja. Most have been freed but at least three have been killed by their captors, including U.S. entrepreneur Nicholas Berg who was beheaded by Zarqawi's group. U.S. officials say Zarqawi himself wielded the knife.
Earlier, hopes in South Korea had risen even though the captors' initial deadline had passed, as an Iraqi mediator said the kidnappers had allowed more time for talks.
Kim, an Arabic speaker and evangelical Christian, had worked in Iraq for a year as a translator for a Korean firm supplying goods to the U.S. army.
He was seized on June 17 in Falluja, a flashpoint city in the anti-U.S. insurgency 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad.
A Seoul commerce ministry spokeswoman said all South Koreans working for firms in Iraq were likely to leave the country by early next month.
South Korea has 670 military medics and engineers in Iraq and plans to send another 3,000 troops.
