US President George W. Bush condemned on Tuesday the killing of a South Korean hostage in Iraq and vowed that the United States will not be intimidated.

"The free world cannot be intimidated by the brutal actions of these barbaric people," Bush said at a press conference with visiting Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy.

"What they are trying to do is they are trying to shake our will and our confidence. They are trying to get us to withdraw from the world so that they can impose their dark vision on people," Bush said.

"And the United States will not be intimidated by these people," Bush said.

The hostage, Kim Sun-il, 33, worked for a South Korean company supplying the US military in Iraq and was abducted last eek. His body has been found near Baghdad.

A militant group said Sunday they would behead the South Koreanhostage within 24 hours unless plans to dispatch thousands of South Korean troops to Iraq were abandoned. However, South Korea has stood firm on its pledge to deploy troops in Iraq.

Source: Xinhua