Militants beheaded a South Korean hostage in Iraq on Tuesday after Seoul refused their demand to withdraw its troops.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)

The pattern has become chillingly familiar. First the kidnap, then the message from the kidnappers, usually on the Qatari satellite network al-Jazeera, or on an Islamist Web site. And finally, in response to a rejection of the kidnappers' demands, the "execution," the plunge into oblivion as the ritual is once again played out to its cruel, senseless end.

So it was with Kim Soong Il, the 33-year-old South Korean interpreter kidnapped in Baghdad Thursday by Islamist militants. Kim was kidnapped on June 17. He first came to Iraq last year to work as a translator for the Gana General Trading Corporation, a military supply company.

The group which held him threatened on Sunday night to kill him within 24 hours if the South Korean government does not withdraw its troops or stop sending more troops to Iraq.

On Tuesday, the last moments -- or almost the last moments -- of Kim's life were relayed through al-Jazeera. Kim was shown kneeling in front of three of his hooded captors, apparently minutes before he was decapitated. One had a large knife tucked in his belt. Another read from a piece of paper. "We warned you," he declared. "Now you see the consequence of what you did not do. Stop your lies. You are not here for the Iraqis, but for the damned Americans."

In his appearance on al-Jazeera -- also part of the ritual -- Kim delivered an emotional appeal: "Korean soldiers please get out of here!" he cried in English. "I don't want to die! I don't want to die! My life is important!"

What made the fluent Arabic speaker a suitable target, according to observers, was that he worked for a South Korean trading company that supplies food to US forces in Iraq.

South Korea, which already has 600 military medics and engineers in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, plans to send 900 troops to Kurdish-controlled Irbilin in early August, followed by about 1,100 troops between late August and early September, and an additional 1,000 soldiers to Iraq later.

This image posted on an Islamic website on June 15, 2004 shows blindfolded US hostage Paul Johnson being held in Saudi Arabia. Al Qaeda militants beheaded the American engineer June 18, 2004. (Reuters photo)

Visual impact

American engineer Paul Johnson, who had been held hostage for several days by Al-Qaeda branch in Saudi, was "executed" by terrorists on June 18 and the way of killing was also by beheading. Since entering the 21st century three Americans have been tragically "beheaded". Johnson was the latest one. Engineer Nicholas Berg was killed last month in Iraq. And in 2002 Washington Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl was murdered in Pakistan.

Needless to say terrorists want to exert "visual impact" by "beheading".

In some Arabic countries extremist organizations have been propagandizing their policies, that is, to expel those so-called "crusaders". Therefore frequent suicide bombings happen where western citizens such as Americans appear. However, although frequent suicide bombings can sometimes inflict large casualties their pertinence is restricted due to technical limitation. What is more important is that some extremists believe the accustomed suicide bombing no longer has "psychological deterrence" on Americans".

In all the three cases of beheaded Americans the terrorists published the records of the bloody scene of the beheading. They used video and photos to record the whole process of the beheading.

After Johnson was beheaded on June 18 an Arabic website released three photos of Johnson's body. One photo was the feature of his head. The other two showed his body. Then several websites provided links to these three photos. However, soon afterward these web pages could not be opened.

A frame grab taken from website video footage May 11, 2004, shows a man, who identified himself as Nick Berg of Philadelphia (C) seated in front of his five masked captors moments before he was executed. (Reuters)

The psychological "impact"

"Beheading is meant to tell people that no westerner (in Saudi Arabia) is safe", said Rachel Bronson, director of Middle East Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, to the Associated Press on June 18 evening.

For those Americans who live in Arabia countries no one will say he (she) has no fear. Johnson �C an ordinary American and a common flight mechanical engineer �C had never publicly announced whether he supported the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In another word he had never provoked any one. His murder, especially the emergence of those ghastly photos, made Americans living permanently in Saudi Arabia terrified and disquieted.

The main reason for Fallujah brigade of the Al-Qaeda on the Arabic Peninsula to murder Johnson was "the deadline has expired". Besides they discovered another "pretty good pretext" on Johnson's body �C Johnson was a mechanical engineer of US Apache helicopter. So "we have all the more reason to take action against him".

The statement by the Fallujah Brigade said: "brothers have been suffering from US Apache helicopters and the missiles fired from Apaches ---. This act is to console the wounds in the hearts of Palestinians, Afghanistanis, Iraqis and people living on the Arabic Peninsula ---. This way he (Johnson) can taste what Apache helicopters and the missiles they fired have inflicted on us".

Besides, in the three photos of Johnson's last moment a detail worthy of attention is that he was addressed in a salmon pink jacket before his death. This "dress" is of the same "clothes" worn by the Arabia prisoners jailed in the US Guantanamo military base in Cuba. Before this Berg was dressed in a similar clothe before his death.

By People's Daily Online