Seoul blocks beheading video

[Mace]

SEOUL, South Korea -- The South Korean government is trying to block Internet access to graphic video footage of the beheading of Kim Sun-il as public anger grows over his brutal slaying.

The move comes as President Roh Moo-hyun on Thursday ordered a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding Kim's kidnapping and murder in Iraq by Islamic militants.

South Korea's Ministry of Information and Communication has introduced a 24-hour monitoring system in a bid to close down any Web site that uploads video footage of Kim's execution.

A tape of the beheading was first posted on an Islamic Web site and has subsequently made its way onto a number of other sites.

The tape shows the killing in graphic detail.

The Information Ministry has also asked local Internet service providers to block the spread of the footage where possible, for fears it could further inflame anti-government passions sparked by the killing.

The militants believed responsible for the grisly slaying had demanded the South Korean government drop plans to send 3,000 troops to Iraq in exchange for Kim's freedom.

But Seoul was adamant it would not be blackmailed by terrorists.

MORE -- http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/06/24/iraq.hostage.reax/index.html

statement from the ogrish.com site.
"Ogrish.com has now been fully censored/banned from the net in South Korea, because we decided to show the truth. We feel as if a double standard is being used: When the Paul Johnson images and Nick Berg video became available, they did not avert their gaze. They watched in the same way as anyone else, without murmur of nationalistic protest. Their righteous outrage now, when it comes to equivalent reportage of one of their own, is discriminatory and hypocritical. Ogrish.com can identify with their collective distress and anger, but does not entitle them to more immunity from harsh reality than the rest of us. As a sidenote, even Google.com, the words biggest and most respected search engine, has prevented the term "Kim Sun-il Beheading video" from bringing up any results for the main url www.ogrish.com (even "Kim Sun-il Beheading video ogrish.com" doesn't generate a result to the main-index)"

[pocket]

1. too late

can't stop file-sharing.

[Bluebear]

2. Ashcroft would love to do that here I'm sure