A Korean’s Death in Iraq

During practicing for the drama presentation, a Korean was kidnapped in Iraq. The kidnappers, who were members of an Islam organization fighting for Iraq’s independence against the U.S.A., demanded that Korean troops leave Iraq in a day. They warned that unless the Korean government accepted it, he would be beheaded.

By the way, I was surprised to watch his appeal shivering with fear because a part of his speech was the same as Ms. Rabbita’s dialog in my script.

“… Your life is important, but my life is important, too. …”

The moral in my script was that one individual has to be sacrificed for a group. I wanted to talk with members in my group about this philosophical theme through the drama, so I told this event to them. Unfortunately, they were not interested in it.

Irresponsibly, the Korean government announced that nothing would be changed and it made him a victim for national interests. The Korean man, Kim Sun Il had worked for the U.S. Army and he believed innocently that his government would rescue him. Before dying, he screamed many times feeling betrayed.

“…President Rho! Moo! Hyun! I want to live. …”

After a while, the kidnappers had him beheaded and showed his head in front of the video camera. I was very shocked. Most of Koreans might also have felt the same. In the 20th century, we experienced enough of the cruelty of war. Nevertheless, why do our governments sacrifice young lives without reason? For whom are the national interests? I was so sad and ashamed of my government.