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Korean Internet users are split between those wanting to take reprisals for the killing of Kim Sun-il in Iraq and those who wish to withdraw plans to send troops. Internet users who could not sleep a wink last night publicly prayed for the departed while criticizing their government that, unlike Japan, could not save the life of its citizen and expressed their rage at the terrorists. Before Kim's killing, Internet user opinion crying for Kim not to be killed was dominant, but since his cruel murder, the agitated Korean Internet users have been flooding cyberspace with posts condemning the murderers.
Of the reader comments attached to Chosun.com's article on Kim's killing, one calling for South Korea to come to an understanding with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and send the entire South Korean military to Iraq was getting the most Netizen sympathy.
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| A video image released Wednesday (Korean Time) by Al-Jazeera television shows a group of heavily armed gunmen, standing over kidnapped Korean Kim Sun-il. Militants beheaded Kim in Iraq Tuesday after Seoul refused their demand to withdraw its troops and scrap plans to send additional troops./ Al-Jazeera TV |
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On the Defense Ministry Homepage's bulletin board, posts calling for punitive measures against the terrorists have been plastered all over since 2:00 a.m. Wednesday, when news of the killing broke. In particular, some of the posts appeared quite extreme. Under the pen name, "Avenge me," one poster wrote, "Let's send combat troops to Falluja and get revenge." Others wrote things like, "Iraqi citizens are no longer human. Let's go hunting the evil spirits that take on the form of humans that live in Iraq," "Let's make the Zaytun Corps a combat unit and sent it Falluja," "If they are taking combat volunteers, I will volunteer unconditionally. As long as there are people killed by terrorists, I want to fight them." About these, Yonhap News reported that they appear to have lost total reason.
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| Korean troops destined for Iraq undergo training on a camp located in Kwangju, province of Gyeonggi-do, South Korea on Wednesday. | |
In particular, the Defense Ministry homepage was getting flooded with so much traffic Wednesday that it was often impossible to connect with the site. At Media Daum, someone wrote, "Even though we had just one person killed, can't you now understand how angry the United States was after Sept. 11 terrorist attacks?"
Of course, there were other posts saying that Kim was killed because of Korea's troop deployment plan, and therefore that deployment must be stopped. A poster by the handle of "dioti00" asked "Would we seem like a volunteer service force to the Iraqis? Or an invasion force just like the U.S. military?" He added, "The war was a mistake from the very beginning, and if we are going to send people, wouldn't it be better to send the Red Cross rather than soldiers in military uniforms?"
Others said, "[U.S. President] Bush is the cause of all of this. He had Iraqi POWs sexually assaulted and ridiculed, which is even worse than beheading," "The president must tell the United States it will cancel plans to send troops, while at the same time finding another way to remain friendly with the United States," "U.S. arrogance has in the end killed even a Korean," "The government must value each citizen, and while our furor at the murderers boils over, we must not send troops to Iraq if we are to put an end to further resentment."
OhMyNews reported early Wednesday morning that, "In the comments section of OhMyNews, the decision to send troops to Iraq is being severely criticized, and there were many calls for people to hold up candles in protest against the Iraq deployment plans."
There are other posts, however, calling for a calm response and warning against allowing this incident to divide public opinion. They called on people to calm down, saying, "This isn't an issue to be handled emotionally," and, "It's nonsense to lump all Iraqis together with these terrorists."
