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Of 23 Koreans taken hostage by Taliban militants in Afghanistan last week, one has been killed. The tragedy dashes the hopes for the safe return of all Korean hostages. Our thoughts are with the families of the victim who was killed during volunteer work in a foreign land.
Meanwhile, it remains uncertain whether eight other hostages had really been freed, as agencies reported earlier. Neither the identities of the reportedly released people nor the demands of the captors and the conditions of the remaining hostages are known. Conflicting reports confused people late into the night on Thursday, with the government failing to provide official confirmation. The families of the victims and Koreans as a whole are dumbfounded by the sudden reversal in the hostage crisis after earlier reports were largely optimistic.
Reported statements from the Taliban do not encourage optimism. The Islamist militia justified their actions saying they killed the Korean because the Afghan government did not keep its promise to free Taliban prisoners in exchange for the release of the hostages. The Taliban warned they will kill more hostages if the situation doesnĄ¯t go their way. The Afghan government finds itself in a tight spot, having come under fire after freeing five Taliban prisoners in an earlier attempt to rescue an Italian reporter who was kidnapped by the Islamist group. If the Taliban insist on the demand for the release of prisoners, the hostage crisis will get worse. International reports say that Afghan and U.S. forces are moving to quell Taliban militants. There are also indications of internal conflict among the Taliban over the abduction of the Koreans.
What matters most now is the condition of the remaining hostages. The repeated extension of negotiation deadlines must be agony for the victims, who are detained in a dry mountainous region and in fear for their lives. Some hostages are reportedly not in good health. It has been eight days since they were kidnapped. The mental anguish and physical suffering of the survivors must be unbearable.
Our sole task is to bring the remaining hostages back home safely. Any military operations to rescue them should be the last option. Korea should persuade Afghanistan and the U.S. to shelve any military plan and continue to negotiate with the Taliban. We cannot afford to abandon even a shred of hope.
Since 2003, 10 abductions of foreigners have taken place in Afghanistan and none of the hostage negotiations went smoothly. But negotiations have frequently succeeded and hostages were freed. The government is the only hope for the families of the hostages. It must maximize its diplomatic capabilities.
The death of the hostage brings home with brutal clarity that Korea is part of the international community. Koreans should be very cautious when going overseas and remember that we are targets for terrorists. Life is cheap in the war-torn regions of the Middle East with their tangled religious and historical conflicts. Yet some evangelical organizations still insist on going to the region for missionary and volunteer work. They should abandon such plans.
There are no words to console the families of the hostages after this terrible news. We pray for the safe return of the remaining hostages.
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