SOUTH KOREA: Remaining hostages held by the Taliban are to be released soon

South Korea says the remaining seven Koreans held by the Taliban in Afghanistan are likely to be freed on Thursday. The remaining seven South Korean hostages held by the Taliban in Afghanistan were expected to be released on Thursday (August 29) after being held captive for six weeks. South Korea's Saemmul Church, which sent the 23 volunteers to Afghanistan said on Thursday it was planning to cover some the costs involved in releasing the surviving hostages with church finances. Pastor Kwon Hyuk-soo at Bundang's Saemmul Church said at a news conference people were donating money to the church voluntarily because of the "special circumstances." The 23 South Koreans were seized on July 19 from a bus in Afghanistan's Ghazni province. The Taliban killed two male hostages early on in the crisis and two women were then released as a gesture of goodwill during the first round of negotiations. On Wednesday (August 29) 12 of the remaining 19 hostages were released. Seoul citizens were divided over whether it was right for the group to have visited Afghanistan in the first place. Many said that the group, travelling to the war-torn country to offer aid should have heeded warnings from the South Korean government not to embark on the trip. Choi Woo-seong, 21, said: "Our government told them not to go there. They did not listen to the government's warning, then made the militant group angry. So the volunteers were wrong." But some people in South Korea's large community of Christians disagreed, saying that the group was obliged to follow its beliefs. Lee Young-hwa, 23, said: "They risked their lives for their beliefs. So I don't think they were wrong." Jeon Hyon-jeong, 29, said that despite her understanding of the group's good intentions, she questioned why they would have wanted to travel to Afghanistan to convert others to Christianity. "I don't understand why I have to understand their position of trying to make others believe in their religion," she said. South Korea said it expects the last seven hostages held by the Taliban to be released later on Thursday, Presidential spokesman Chon told reporters: "We are working to bring them back into the arms of their families. It's difficult to predict, but it may be as early as this weekend." South Korea's presidential Blue House said that under the deal it struck with the Taliban, it has to withdraw its small contingent of non-combat troops in the country within the year and stop its nationals from doing missionary work in Afghanistan.

ITN Source | August 30, 2007

Tags:. .costs. .church. .warnings. .august. .arms