Koreans want answers in hostage crisis
By Han Mi-young
SEOUL - South Koreans are shocked, confused and furious over the uncertain fate
of 21 compatriots held hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan, as the Korean
government presses the United States and Pakistan to support its efforts to
bring them back alive.
A South Korean delegation was in Afghanistan's Ghazni province on Friday in an
attempt to have a face-to-face meeting with the Taliban, who kidnapped 23
Korean Christian missionaries on July 19 on the Kabul-Kanawha highway, the
largest group of foreign
hostages taken in Afghanistan since the 2001 US-led invasion.
Two of the hostages have been killed by the Taliban, whose key demand is for
the release of some of their jailed fighters.
In Seoul on Thursday afternoon, 20 days after he left for Afghanistan to teach
children there, 29-year-old Shim Sung-min returned in a coffin. His distraught
father, Shim Jin-pie, 63, saw his bullet-riddled body and cried, "Sung-min has
been a good and faithful son who has cheerfully helped other people in need."
Min Byung-wook, 29, a friend of Sung-min, wrote in his weblog, "You've usually
smiled away even when we had a horrible military training together. You are
such a fragile heart that you've seldom passed off anyone who needs your help."
Shim Sung-min was the second hostage killed after the slain group leader,
pastor Bae Hyung-kyu. Bae's body, punctured by eight bullet holes, was returned
home, although his family had requested that it be kept at a US base in
Afghanistan until all the members of his group were released and they could
accompany the pastor's body back to Seoul.
"My daughter asked me why Dad is not coming back home. I told her, 'Your dad
left on his birthday,'" said Bae's forlorn wife. His abductors killed him on
his birthday. The pastor had written a note some months ago saying that in case
of his death, his body should be donated to medicine.
On Thursday, the South Korean government confirmed that it wanted direct
negotiations with the Taliban. "We keep all of the possible contacts with
Taliban open in search of feasible solutions," said Cheon Ho-sun, a spokesman
for the presidential Blue House.
Relatives of the remaining hostages wait anxiously for news about the fate of
their loved ones. There was great relief on Thursday when reports that the use
of military force against the Taliban was being considered proved false.
Meanwhile, health concerns, particularly for the 18 female prisoners, are
growing. The Taliban have released audio and videotapes of the hostages. In
one, an unidentified woman is heard saying, "We need to get out of this soon,
most of us are very sick."
Kim Take-young confirmed that his daughter Han Jig-young was in fragile health
when she left for Afghanistan. "I tried to stop her but she insisted, saying it
would be okay. She was missing the Afghan kids she had taught last year," the
father said.
The hostage crisis has shaken South Korea. Most of the hostages are either
nurses or English-language teachers who had volunteered to spend their summer
vacation in Afghanistan taking care of patients or teaching English and
computer skills to children.
Public anger has been directed against the Saemmul Church that sent the
volunteers to the conflict-ravaged country. A barrage of protesting e-mails
paralyzed its official website, forcing it to shut down. One-third of South
Korea's 48 million people are Christians.
Park Eon-jo, senior pastor of the church, has tendered an apology: "It is pain
beyond any word ... I deeply apologize to all of the people and in particular
to the families. These 23 people went to Afghanistan because they loved Afghan
people. They saved money and gave up taking summer vacation for Afghan people."
South Koreans are divided over whether or not it is right for their compatriots
to volunteer in Afghanistan. Cha In-pie, a popular actor, wrote in his blog,
"You are a coward if you feel ashamed of their pain ... Yes, it could have been
a wrong decision to put their lives at risk. However, how could we criticize
their choice to do good even in a country where no one else would even bother
to be there?"
Public anger has also turned into frustration, as the Seoul government has hit
a wall in its diplomatic efforts to secure the release of the hostages. Since
the Taliban will only accept the release of their colleagues held by the
US-backed regime in Kabul, Seoul finds it has to rely on Washington or the
Afghan government in the crisis - unless Pakistan can help.
Special presidential envoy Baek Jong-chun, now in Kabul, was due to stop
briefly in Islamabad on his way home on Friday, after failing to make any
headway despite a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. "Pakistan may
hold a key. It may be the only country the Taliban listen to," said Kim Jin-tae
of the Korea Research Institute on Terrorism.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman, opposition leader in the Pakistan National Assembly, has
appealed to the Taliban to release the hostages on humanitarian grounds. He
offered his help on Tuesday during a meeting with South Korea's ambassador to
Pakistan, Kim Jooseok.
Still, most Koreans think only the US can save the hostages from certain death.
Jeong Dong-young, who heads a minority opposition party in South Korea, said,
"The US is the only party that holds a key to the release of the hostages."
Another opposition leader, Kwon Young-gil, said, "Nothing should be more
important than the life of South Koreans. It is more important than the
principle of the US not talking to terrorist groups."
Eight senior members of South Korea's National Assembly left on Thursday for
Washington to urge US officials to take active steps in the crisis.
"We cannot do without help from the international community," the
non-governmental group Solidarity for Participatory Democracy said in a
statement.
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