SOUTH KOREA/AFGHANISTAN: Seven South Korean hostages freed in Afghanistan likely to receive lukewarm homecoming

Seven remaining South Korean hostages are freed by the Taliban in Afghanistan after direct talks with South Korean government. But while their families rejoice, reactions on the street in Seoul indicate a lukewarm homecoming. South Korean hostages in Afghanistan, set free by the Taliban after six weeks in captivity, are likely to receive a lukewarm homecoming with many seeing them as largely to blame for their ordeal. The last seven remaining hostages were handed over to officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross in southeast Afghanistan late on Thursday (August 30). Twelve were freed on Wednesday (August 29). Two other women hostages had been released earlier. Two of the 23 Christian volunteers abducted on July 19 were killed early in the crisis. Some South Koreans say the group are partly to blame after they ignored their government's own advice not to travel to areas where the Taliban are active. Chung Kyung-joon, a 23-year-old resident of Seoul said: "They caused a lot of trouble for the government and I think, for the nation as well. They also disgraced the honour of South Korea. They must pay for that." Choi Hoon-suk, 53, said "I think it would be good if they went to the right places where aid work can make a difference. That way, aid work can be meaningful. Going away like that and making people worry, and suffering themselves a lot, that's not aid work but just causing a lot of trouble." In Bundang, the hostages' families rejoiced at the news. Kim Eun-Joo, the mother of released hostage Lee Young-Kyung, said "I was so worried and tense all the time with so much thinking about when my daughter would be released. Now, I'm so glad that she's released healthy." Ryu Haeng-Sik, husband of released hostage Kim Eun-Young said her children had missed their mother but could now looking forward to seeing her again. Reporters were not allowed to speak to the released captives as they stepped down from a minibus after dusk outside Ghazni town, the women covering their heads and faces with scarves. The Taliban agreed to release the South Koreans they were still holding after Seoul agreed to pull all its nationals out of the insurgency-wracked central Asian country. Some Afghan officials say South Korea agreed to pay a ransom during negotiations with the Taliban, which one foreign diplomat said started as a demand for 20 million United States dollars. South Korea's presidential Blue House said that under the deal it struck with the Taliban it must withdraw its small contingent of non-combat troops in the country within the year and stop its nationals from doing missionary work in Afghanistan. However, South Korea had already decided before the crisis to pull its 200 engineers and medical staff out of Afghanistan by the end of 2007. Since the hostages were taken, it has banned its nationals from travelling there. A spokesman for South Korea's president, Chon Ho-seon, was evasive in responding to questions at a news briefing in Seoul on Wednesday on whether a ransom was part of the deal, saying only South Korea had done what was needed.

ITN Source | August 31, 2007

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