22 June 2004, United Nations, New York – Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Domingo Albert today led the other members of the United Nations Security Council today in calling for a united stand against international terrorism and in strongly condemning the beheading of a South Korean earlier abducted by Islamic militants in Iraq.

“On behalf of the members of the Security Council, I wish to condemn in the strongest terms this abominable act of terrorism against an innocent civilian,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Domingo Albert said shortly after the council received confirmation that Korean hostage Kim Sun-Il had been beheaded by his captors.

“In the face of such evil, the world must stand united against the scourge of international terrorism that continues to plague our global community,” Secretary Albert said in her remarks upon the resumption of the open debate on the “Role of Civil Society in Post-Conflict Peace-Building”—the theme of the Philippine presidency of the Security Council.

The Secretary, who presided over the open debate, also expressed her deep condolences to the family of the victim as well as to the government and people of the Republic of Korea.

The 33-year old Kim, an employee of a South Korean company providing supplies to the United States military in Iraq, was kidnapped last week by a militant group linked to the Al-Qaida. His body was found shortly after his captors announced that they have executed the Korean captive.

Kim was killed after South Korea rejected the kidnappers’ demand that Seoul cancels its planned deployment of some 3,000 troops to Iraq. END.