Video shows Korea hostage threat
Zarqawi's group has carried out a number of attacks
Islamic militants in Iraq have threatened to execute a South Korean hostage within 24 hours, according to a videotape shown on al-Jazeera TV.
The group identified itself as Monotheism and Jihad, and called on South Korea to withdraw its armed forces from Iraq.
South Korea will boost its deployment by 3,000 troops, making it the largest coalition force after the US and UK.
"Please get out of here, I don't want to die," screamed the hostage.
The video identified him as Kim Song-il.
"My life is important," he pleaded, in English.
Al-Jazeera said that the videotape arrived in an unmarked package at the station's Baghdad office.
The two-minute video showed the hostage surrounded by armed men wearing masks.
"We ask you to withdraw your forces from our land and not to send any more troops, and if not we'll send you this Korean's head," said one of the men.
A banner identified the group as Jamaat al-Tawhid and Jihad, which is led by a leading al-Qaeda member, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Warning
South Korea already has 660 army engineers and medical personnel in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriya, where they are involved in humanitarian and rehabilitation projects.
But on Friday, the South Korean defence ministry announced that it would send another 3,000 troops to northern Iraq from early August.
The next day, the government issued a warning against any travel to Iraq, saying its troop decision might lead to attacks on South Korean citizens.
Last month the same group beheaded an American hostage, Nick Berg, and it has been responsible for a number of other attacks, including the killing of Iraqi Governing Council head Ezzedine Salim.
The group has previoulsy said that it was "determined to lift the humiliation from our nation".
These ****ERS are getting worse about this :'( I hope they dont kill this hostge.
It will get worse in the upcoming days due to the handing over of Iraq to their new government.
Is South Korea the nasty one or is it North Korea? I try to stay away from foreign affairs. I let little Bush handle it. He's gonna do what he hants anyways, why argue on pogocheats.net about it?
North Korea I think... Sounth Korea has gotten a lot better and is turned in the right direction ;)
Za,
North Korea is a truly horrendous regime. (Another fine example of Marxism in action.) South Korea was a cold war friend, but US interests and South Korean interests have diverged in recent years. I expect relations to cool with South Korea in coming years.
Expect to see the bloodshed escalate as the turnover approaches. And expect to see all hell break loose sometime after that.