S. Korea bans beheading footage on Internet
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-06-24 15:12

The South Korean government ordered Internet service providers to impose a strict ban to prevent the possible spread of the footage of the hostage killed in Iraq, Yonhap news agency reported Thursday.

The government requested that major Internet service companies such as KT Corp., Hanaro Telecom Inc and Thrunet Co. shut down access to Web sites that were found carrying the video footage, the Ministry of Information and Communication said.

Video grabs from an Islamist website show the beheading of South Korean hostage Kim Sun-il, 33, by militants in Iraq after he was kidnapped June 17, 2004. The tape showed heavily armed and masked men standing over a kneeling Kim before one of them grabbed the South Korean, hurled him to the floor and severed his head with a sword. The head was then placed on the body, which was later found by U.S. Forces. [Reuters]

"On the night of June 23 the ministry already shut down a local Web site showing images of the killing," ministry official Kim Ki-kwon said.

"The ministry ordered Internet service providers to shut down three other Web sites by noon," the official added.

In addition, the ministry requested that Internet portals ban users from conducting searches using words such as "execution" and "beheading" on their search engines.

The ministry warned that Internet users who continue to try to spread the on-line footage would be prosecuted after tracking down their Internet protocol addresses.

The 33-year-old Kim Sun-il, a translator for Cana General Trading Corp., a South Korean supplier for the US military in Iraq, was reportedly kidnapped by Iraqi militants several weeks ago.

His body was found on Tuesday night, one day after Seoul rejected the captors' demand to reverse its planned troop dispatch to Iraq.

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