TV Chosun and Yonhap News let out the possibility of the existence of the first Korean to have joined the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as a militant. Chosun Ilbo reported that a photo of an Asian man on horseback wearing Arab attire and carrying a weapon was posted on the internet by an American Middle East expert from the Brookings Institute.
An insider from Brookings Institute, an American centrist think tank based in Washington D.C. identified the man in the photo that he posted on his SNS as Abu Seif and also stated that he was Korean. Literally Abu means "father" and Seif means "sword". Beneath the photo numerous people including the press commented questioning the authenticity of the photo. The expert has not removed the photo from his Twitter account, and since it is from a renowned think tank, it is difficult to completely reject his claims.
The researcher who posted the picture is reported to be an expert on the Middle East and particularly on Jihadism who is currently researching under Jane's Information Group. At Jane's Information Group, this person is the lead researcher on the Middle East and North Africa studies.
Although the source of the image has not been identified, the same photo appeared on the Twitter account of someone who may be an ISIS follower; "State of Islam" (@Dawla_accountt). The user noted that the person, the Jihadist in the image was Korean and when a person joins the Islamic State and pledges to fight for their cause, race and nationality become irrelevant.
"State of Islam" was also reported to have posted a message via his Twitter account encouraging African Americans to join ISIS and become militants. This was when the Ferguson riots were reaching their peak.
This was not the first time however that someone suggested that there might be Korean militants out there fighting in the Middle East, according to CNN. A militant who was captured by Iraqi government forces testified that among the Islamic State's most recent new recruits were Americans, Chinese, Germans, French, Canadian, Norwegian and Korean. At the time however, the South Korean administration's official position was that there was not yet real evidence there are Korean militants. However, the possibility of North Koreans fighting alongside ISIS cannot be completely rejected.
Meanwhile, the war against the Islamic State still rages on. Yonhap News reported that in the most recent airstrike by the U.S. a drone took 18 lives while attacking an area near the Syrian border. The possibility of U.S. group troops entering the conflict is still up in the air.
