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Im Hyun-joo, one of the 23 Koreans kidnapped by Taliban, who spoke by telephone to U.S. channel CBS eight days after the abduction.
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Eight days after the abduction of 23 Koreans in Afghanistan, the voice of one of the young women in the group was heard for the first time on Thursday. ¡°We are in a very difficult time. Please help us,¡± said a woman who introduced herself as Im Hyun-joo (32), a former nurse from Seoul, in a phone interview with U.S. broadcaster CBS.
Im speaks Dari, an Afghan dialect of Farsi. She spoke Korean and Dari in the interview. ¡°All of us are sick and in very bad condition. We are all pleading for you to help us get out of here as soon as possible. Really, we beg you.¡± She said she was with 17 other women while the men were being held separately.
CBS said the interview was arranged with a Taliban commander on Wednesday.
Japan¡¯s Kyodo news agency reported an interview with a Korean female hostage identified as ¡°Chan Cho¡± with Afghanistan¡¯s Pajhwak Afghan News agency. It quoted the woman, believed to be the same nurse, as saying in broken Dari, ¡°'I am groping for words to describe the plight of the hostages. I can't explain to you the dilemma we are in¡±. She urged the Afghan government to meet the kidnappers¡¯ demand for a prisoner swap.
Arabic news channel Al Jazeera said Thursday some of the Korean hostages are on hunger strike. But Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a purported spokesman for the Taliban denied the report, telling AFP the hostages are safe and alive. Presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-seon said the Korean hostages were known to have no serious health problems.
Meanwhile, President Roh Moo-hyun sent his chief secretary for foreign and security affairs Baek Jong-chun to Afghanistan as a presidential envoy. Baek arrives in the Afghan capital Kabul via Bangkok on Friday morning. Cheon hinted that Baek will urge the Afghan government to agree to a prisoner swap, saying Baek ¡°is a special envoy to the Afghan government.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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