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. 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.
Kim identifies himself as a 33-year-old math teacher on the tape. No gunmen are shown, and no demands are made. There are no signs that he was being held hostage. The tape delivered to the APTN office in Baghdad in early June by an unidentified courier shows Kim, an employee of a supplier to the U.S. military, seated before a bare beige wall. He is alone, clean-shaven and his hair is cut short. A voice off camera asks him questions, and he replies in halting English. He gives his name, says he was born Sept. 13, 1970, and gives his place of birth as Busan. When asked his occupation, he says he taught mathematics. He says he came to Iraq about six months ago and that he wanted to study Arabic. Kim also describes President Bush as a "terrorist" and says the United States is "killing the Iraqi people." "I saw George Bush attack here because of Iraqi oil," he said. "So I don’t like George Bush or America." Kim says he went to Fallujah and that the Americans searched him. He stands up, turns around and puts his hands on the wall as if he were being searched. "I like Iraqi people. The Iraqi people are very kind," Kim said. "I think they are poor because of war." |