“How Could One Make Fun of the Beheading Videotape…”

“How Could One Make Fun of the Beheading Videotape…”. June. 24, 2004 21:32. by Yi-Young Cho Se-Jin Jung lycho@donga.com mint4a@donga.com.

“Let’s not confuse general Iraqis with the terrorists.”

There are signs that the shock Kim Sun-il’s death gave citizens and netizens is developing a general sense of public rage against Iraq after a videotape of his beheading became public on some internet sites on June 24. The broadcast of the videotape of his interview while still alive by three major Korean Television networks that was delivered to the Associated Press Television News (APTN) has also provoked public opinion and intensified the dispute about the additional troop deployment to Iraq.

But there are voices saying that in general, Iraqis are peace-loving people, rage against Iraqis is not justifiable, and that the expression of extreme emotion should be restrained.

--Videotape made public

Two videotapes, a four-minute tape and a five-minute tape, of the Korean hostage’s beheading have been made public through a mirroring site (an extra site used to back up and duplicate data) on the internet site “O,” whose theme is to show cruel and bizarre things. These sites are currently blocked to Koreans by the Information and Communication Ministry. Still, it is confirmed that some netizens were able to download the videotapes and are sharing them.

Police assume either the Iraqi armed group distributed the tapes to the site or the site purchased them from other Muslim sites, considering the site put out an ad seeking videotapes of Kim Sun-il’s beheading since June 22. The videotapes contain a scene showing a masked man beheading Kim after declaring “Allah is great.” Netizens who saw the tapes showed strong emotional responses, saying, “It was too cruel and I couldn’t help myself from bursting out into tears.”

--Dispute over troop dispatch intensifies

The “Emergency National Action Group against the Troop Dispatch to Iraq” held a public meeting in front of the Kyobo bookstore, urging the government to cancel the dispatch plan.

Lee Jae-kwon, a 58 year-old, who used to work as a construction laborer in Saudi Arabia, asked, “Why should we participate in a war that Iraq opposes and make bad relations with them?”

On the other side, though, Park Ho-jeong, a 25 year-old female company employee, said, “If we cancel our decision on the dispatch because of this killing, it only shows that we gave up because of the terrorists’ threats. We should dispatch our army as planned.”

Some conservative groups, including “Citizens’ Solidarity Against North Korean Nuclear Weapon Development,” confirmed their existing stance that the troop dispatch should proceed as planned while expressing our regret at Kim’s death.

--“Need to be more rational in such situations”]

Park Sung-hee, a housewife living in Yoido-dong, Yongdeungpo-gu, said, “I am concerned that the beheading videotape may provoke some extreme responses. We should distinguish the terrorists from the general Iraqi people and should control our rage as much as possible.”

Many netizens are holding a campaign not to watch the videotape at all. Opinions such as: “Please, let’s not watch the videotape even though it may be just us Koreans who don’t watch it. It is the same as allowing Kim Sun-il to be killed twice. Imagine how painful it would be if his family and friends watch it. Let’s not watch it and delete it even when it is in your hand,” have been posted on most Korean internet portal sites.

Kim Ho-ki, Professor of Sociology at Yonsei University, pleaded with the government, citizens’ groups, and netizens to control unnecessary expressions of emotion and impulsive behavior, saying, “I am concerned that the videotape may provoke sentiment against Iraq and intensify the dispute on the army dispatch.”

Kang Won-taek, professor of political science at Soongshil University, said, “We have to watch this situation in a calm and quiet manner and not involve this situation with the army dispatch. In particular, this situation should not be used to fuel anti-Iraq sentiment and internal conflict.”