Beheading of South Korean Hostage Shown on Web Site.

DUBAI (Reuters) - An Islamist Web site has posted a videotape of the beheading of the South Korean hostage killed by militants in Iraq.

Kim Sun-il, an Arabic-speaking translator, was executed on Tuesday by his captors after Seoul rejected demands for South Korea to stop contributing troops to U.S.-led forces in Iraq.

The tape shows heavily armed and masked men standing over a kneeling Kim, who was blindfolded and wearing an orange tunic.

One man read from a written statement while another in a black mask grabbed Kim, hurled him to the floor and severed his head with a sword.

The head was then placed on the body, which was later found by U.S. forces.

The sword is, of course, one of the symbols of Islam, featured prominently on the flag of the Islamic state where hundreds of people are beheaded legally each year—Saudi Arabia.