A parliamentary panel investigating the death of South Korean hostage Kim Sun-il has decided to send an official list of questions to the Associated Press (AP) regarding suspicions surrounding his abduction.

The plan was announced by Rep. Park Jin of the main opposition Grand National Party. He said the panel members made the decision during its hearing on Monday after watching a 13-minute unedited videotape showing the slain Korean hostage before he was killed by Islamic militants.

Park said the questionnaire will ask the AP about what questions three of its Seoul bureau reporters asked the South Korean Foreign Ministry regarding the hostage case and what answers they received from the ministry.

The panel also wants to know who edited the original videotape down to a four and-a-half minute segment and why the AP neglected to try to confirm the identity of the hostage, who is shown reciting his address in Korea on the tape.

Committee members have decided to call for the three reporters and other AP officials to testify before the parliamentary panel.

Rep. Park also raised suspicions that the news agency may have misleadingly reported on the timing of Kim's kidnapping. Park claimed that the AP should have known Kim was kidnapped before June 2nd, considering that the original videotape was delivered to the agency's Baghdad bureau on that day.

According to Park, however, an AP story written by the Baghdad bureau on June 21st reported that Kim was believed to have been kidnapped around June 10th.

The panel plans to send its questions to the AP headquarters as well as to its Seoul and Baghdad bureaus.