By Reuben Staines
Staff Reporter

The media frenzy triggered by the beheading of interpreter Kim Sun-il in Iraq has brought back memories of Sept. 11 as South Korea responded in shock to its first direct experience of the escalating terrorist attacks in the Middle East.

Television news broadcasts have been dominated by the hostage drama and its aftermath since Arab satellite network Al-Jazeera aired footage of Kim being threatened by Iraqi insurgents on June 20. The disturbing clips of Kim held hostage by armed militants have become as familiar here as those of the two planes smashing into the World Trade Center were after the 2001 terrorist attack.

``After the decision to send troops to Iraq, we suspected that we might be targeted, but now it has really hit home and it has been a big shock,’’ said Lee Jung-hoon, professor at Yonsei University’s Graduate School of International Studies.

Lee said while the country has been affected by North Korean terrorism in past decades, this is the first time terrorists have targeted South Koreans post-Sept. 11 and the dramatic response is natural.

``I don’t think the media are blowing it out of proportion,’’ he said. ``If there is an undertone of emotionalism, it’s quite understandable.’’

Lee said the tragic episode also touched a raw nerve in a nation divided over the appropriateness of dispatching troops to Iraq and the future of its strained alliance with the United States.

But regardless of the debate over the troop dispatch, he believed the brutal beheading of an innocent civilian was enough to stir a strong public outcry.

Kim was executed last week after the South Korean government rejected an ultimatum by insurgents linked to terrorist group al-Qaida to halt its planned troop dispatch to Iraq.

Seoul has framed the troop dispatch, which is set to begin in stages from next month, as a means to strengthen its alliance with Washington.

Park Ihn-hwi, professor at Ewha Womans University’s Graduate School of International Studies, agreed that conflicting views over whether South Korea should support the U.S. in Iraq magnified the public’s reaction to Kim’s murder.

He was critical of President Roh Moo-hyun’s administration for linking the dispatch to the U.S. alliance, arguing that made South Korea a target for terrorist groups such as the one that killed Kim.

``The government should have sent troops to Iraq last year or before the elections and declared it had nothing to do with the Korea-U.S. alliance,’’ he said. ``It might have avoided the Kim Sun-il incident.’’

But he also believed the press resorted to sensationalism in reporting the story. ``The Korean media exaggerated the emotional response of the public and this had a negative effect on the government dealing with the situation,’’ he said.

rjs@koreatimes.co.kr