The brutal killing of South Korean hostage Kim Sun-il in Iraq on Tuesday dramatically exposed to Asia the hazards of doing business in the strife-torn nation. But while the deteriorating security situation spells higher risk premiums for companies that venture there, one field stands to make considerable capital from the increased danger: security providers, or what are now being called private military corporations.
It is not an area in which Asian companies have traditionally enjoyed much visibility globally. The most high-profile Asian paramilitary security experts in recent years have been state-sponsored - by Pyongyang. North Korean 'military advisers' have assisted the governments of Zimbabwe and Ceausescu-era Romania, and reportedly provide security to members of the Cambodian leadership.
Now the financial reward of a dangerous world is drawing their southern cousins to the field: South Korean security firms have been making inroads into Iraq. One such company is NKTS, which was established last year.
'We are the first such company in Korea,' says Lee Woo-jae, a manager with the Seoul-based outfit.
NKTS - the initials, prosaically, stand for New Korea Total Services - entered the Middle East last December, providing security for the Jordanian royal family and training for the family's bodyguard.
In Jordan, three Koreans now guard King Abdullah II, while female NKTS agents guard the queen, Mr Lee says.