A South Korean hostage has been beheaded by an Iraqi militant group, the pan-Arab al-Jazeera satellite TV reported Tuesday. 

In a tape shown by the channel, one of the kidnappers read a statement addressed to the Korean people, blaming the tragedy for the South Korean government's fault in sending army to Iraq.

The body of Kim Soong-il, 33, was found by the US military between Baghdad and Fallujah at 5:20 pm (1320 GMT) Tuesday, a Foreign Ministry spokesman in Seoul confirmed later.

Kim was kidnapped on June 17. He first came to Iraq last year to work as a translator for the Gana General Trading Corporation, a military supply company.

The group which held him threatened on Sunday night to kill him within 24 hours if the South Korean government does not withdraw its troops or stop sending more troops to Iraq.

Al-Jazeera aired a video tape Sunday, showing Kim begging for his life and pleading with his government to meet the kidnappers' demand.

The South Korean Foreign Ministry said in response Monday that the country will go ahead with its plan to send 3,000 troops to Iraq despite the televised threat.

South Korea, which already has 600 military medics and engineers in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, plans to send 900 troops to Kurdish-controlled Irbilin in early August, followed by about 1,100 troops between late August and early September, and an additional 1,000 soldiers to Iraq later.

The group of kidnappers was suspected to be linked to the Jordanian-born terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi who was said responsible for a series of terrorist activities in the Middle East region.

Last month, Zarqawi's group beheaded American hostage Nick Berg in Iraq.

On Friday, Paul Johnson, a 49-year-old American engineer working for top US defense contractor Lockheed Martin was beheaded by militants allegedly linked to al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia. 

(Xinhua News Agency June 23, 2004)