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Taliban fighters in Afghanistan have kidnapped 23 Koreans, including Christian missionaries and members of the Saemmul Church in Bundang just south of Seoul, as they were traveling by bus in the war-torn country. The church members entered Afghanistan on July 13 to do volunteer work at hospitals and kindergartens and were planning to return to Korea on July 23.
The Taliban is an armed group that traces its roots back to Islamic fundamentalist student cells. They require children to memorize the Koran from age five and raise them to be religious warriors who believe that religions other than Islam are heretical. The Taliban came to power in Afghanistan in 1996 and imposed strict religious law until they were driven out by the U.S. military in 2001. They are famous for exacting gruesome punishment including dismemberment and public execution on those who disobey the Taliban's strict version of Islamic law.
The religious fanaticism of the Taliban gained global notoriety in 2001 when they blew up the priceless Buddhas of Bamyan, calling the UNESCO-designated cultural treasures un-Islamic idols. After they were driven out of power, the Taliban returned to operating as guerrillas, with terror and kidnappings among their modus operandi.
In February, Sergeant Yoon Jang-ho of Korea's Dasan Engineering Unit was killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan. In April, the Taliban beheaded a translator who had been working with an Italian journalist. The kidnappings of two Germans on July 18, just a day before the Koreans were abducted, appears to be the work of the Taliban as well.
It is simply futile for Koreans to engage in missionary or other religious activities in a country like Afghanistan, which has a history of deep hatred toward Christianity and is wracked by gunfights, kidnappings and suicide bombings. Even the governor of the province where the Koreans were kidnapped said the abductees should have stayed home and should not have been in war-torn Afghanistan. In August of last year, a Christian group from Korea was deported by the Afghan government after attempting to hold a large religious ceremony in the capital Kabul, despite repeated warnings and dissuasions by Korea's Foreign Ministry.
The Korean government has issued a travel restriction for Koreans seeking to go to Afghanistan, which is the third-highest warning in its four-tier scale of overseas travel advisories. Next week, a law will go into effect in Korea under which Koreans who visit "banned" countries such as Iraq and Somalia can face criminal charges. The government should consider putting Afghanistan on the list of banned countries.
Religious groups should realize once and for all that dangerous missionary and volunteer activities in Islamic countries including Afghanistan not only harm Korea's national objectives, but also put other Koreans under a tremendous amount of duress.
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