Family of South Korea hostage blame govt

Kim had been working in Iraq as an interpreter for a South Korean supplier to US troops before his kidnap in Falluja on 17 June. The 33-year-old had been in Iraq for just over a year, and was planning to return home in July for his father's 70th birthday.

"My poor son was killed by the government," said Mr Kim's mother, Shin Young-Ja, after returning home from hospital where she was taken suffering from shock.

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"The cursed government kept declaring it stood firm on its decision to send troops while claiming it was doing its best to save him," she said.

The hostage's father, 69-year-old Kim Jong-Kyu, said the government had not been sincere with them and blamed the foreign ministry for failing to prevent his son's death. "I want to bury him in the foreign ministry building. That is all I want from this government," he said.

The family had urged Seoul to put their son before troop deployments. Kim's mother has said she last heard from her son in April when he reassured her he was safe and well.

Shin Young-ja told Yonhap news agency on Monday her son's life should come before any plan to send troops.

"I used to think in the past the troop dispatch had to take place even when my son was in Iraq, but now, in such a situation, I think my son must be saved first," she said.