Standing firm

The South Korean government is refusing to back down:

SOUTH Korea today said it would go ahead with a troop deployment to Iraq, despite a threat from an Islamic group to behead a South Korean hostage unless the plan was scrapped.

"We will go ahead with the troops dispatch as planned. There are no changes to our plan," a defence ministry spokesman said.

It's tragic that the hostage will probably be murdered. However if governments start backing down far more will die in the long run. I've got to give the South Korean government credit for standing firm.