SOUTH KOREA: South Korea continues to analyse the hostage situation in Afghanistan while activists in Seoul pray for the hostages' safe return

South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon says the government is trying its best to obtain the swift and safe return of the hostages in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, hundreds of South Korean activists hold a candle vigil in central Seoul to pray for the kidnapped and mourn the murder of one of the 23 hostages. South Korea's Foreign Minister Song Min-soon said on Thursday (July 26) that the Korean government was making efforts to ensure a swift return of 22 hostages kidnapped in Afghanistan, but that the situation was not easy. "We are doing everything we can do. Although the possible may not work, we are doing everything we can realistically. We will try to bring good news," Song said. Song also said that the government was looking into ways of sending aid to the hostages. "Because a week has passed, we are preparing for health problems among the hostages. We are trying to have medical aid and subsistence transferred to the hostages, but we will see," he said. "We are trying to relieve the anxiety (of the families) but there are a lot of obstacles. We are working to maintain effective contact and analysing the situation but everything keeps changing so I cannot say anything is set. In any case, we are trying our best," he added. The fate of the 22 Christian volunteers had hung in the balance overnight, after the rebels killed one hostage and dumped his bullet-ridden body near where the group of 18 women and five men were seized last week. He was identified as the group's leader, Bae Hyung-kyu, a pastor who would have turned 42 on the day he was murdered. The Taliban has threatened to kill more of the Korean hostages if Afghanistan does not agree to exchange the group for imprisoned rebels. About 200 South Korean human rights and peace activists held a candle-lit vigil for the hostages on Thursday evening. Holding candles and placards that read "immediate withdrawal" and "swift return," participants chanted slogans, urging the Taliban to release the hostages. Many of those at the vigil saw the abduction of the South Koreans as a result of the presence of South Korean troops in Afghanistan, and chanted slogans demanding their withdrawal. All of the remaining 22 Korean hostages held by the Taliban in Afghanistan were alive on Thursday, a spokesman for the Taliban said, adding the group had hope for a peaceful settlement of the crisis. South Korea dispatched its chief presidential national security advisor, Baek Jong-chun, on Thursday to boost coordination with the Afghan government in efforts to secure the hostages' release. He was expected to arrive in Afghanistan on Friday (July 27), which could mean the Taliban may wait until at least then to see what offer, if any, he brings to negotiations. General Ali Shah Ahmadzai, provincial police chief of Ghazni province where the 22 remaining hostages are being held and where Bae was killed on Wednesday, told Reuters the government was keen to resume negotiations with the kidnappers. He also believed the hostages were safe. Bae, a married man with a nine-year-old daughter, was from a devout Christian family from the island province of Jeju. He went to theology school and became a pastor about six years ago. Bae, whose father is a church elder in Jeju, was a founding member of the Saemmul Church south of Seoul, which sent the volunteers to Afghanistan. He led services for younger members of its congregation. "I was thinking what I could do when I retire. When I retire, I want to gather children in my neighbourhood and teach them how to play the violin," Bae said during a sermon filmed on video some months ago. A Taliban spokesman said Bae had been killed in a desert area in the Qarabagh district of Ghazni close to where the group had been abducted. Bae was the oldest member of the group that went despite warnings from Seoul not to go due to security concerns. South Korea strongly condemned Bae's murder, calling it an unforgivable atrocity.

ITN Source | July 27, 2007

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