The Kim Sun-il murder case gets stranger by the day:
Religious leaders on Thursday condemned the Iraq insurgent group responsible for the beheading of Kim Sun-il after it said Kim was murdered because he was Christian.
The group, known as Tawhid wa al-Jihad (Unification and Holy War), posted a message on its Web site on Thursday that suggested the killing was linked to Kim’s religion.
“We have killed an infidel who tried to propagate Christianity in Iraq,” the message read. “This infidel studied theology and was preparing to become a missionary in the Islamic world.
Islamic leaders in Seoul were quick to take issue:
Lee Haeng-lae, prayer leader at Korea Central Mosque in Itaewon, said true Muslims would never kill a person because he or she was Christian. “I’m sure that they did not kill Kim Sun-il just because he was Christian,” he said “Muslims are understanding of other religions like Christianity and Buddhism.”
Cana Trading, Kim’s employer and, truth be told, a rather shady organization, came under criticism, too:
Thursday’s Internet posting comes more than three weeks after the beheading and is the first indication that the murder was religiously motivated.
In the message, the terrorist group also accused Cana General Trading Co., Kim’s employer, of Christian affiliations, attacking its policy of donating 10 percent of its profits to missionary work.
The message could be seen here, but not in the ROK, where it’s blocked — apparently, the site carries pictures of Kim before and after his murder.
One Comment
A couple of days ago, my wife told me about a Korean langauge report on this very issue. As for the remarks of Lee Haeng-lae, prayer leader at Korea Central Mosque in Itaewon, they are disingenuous. He cannot be unaware that Muslim countries do not allow other religions to proselytize among Muslims. According to Islamic law, missionary work among Muslims is punishable by death. I could do a web search and come up with the relevant Islamic legal passages, but I don’t have time. Let me just note that I posted on a couple of different websites a post containing my view on why Kim Sun Il was beheaded. Here it is, in part: