South Asia News
South Koreans back home after release by Taliban (2nd Roundup)
Sep 2, 2007, 10:09 GMT
Seoul - A group of 19 South Korean Christians who spent six weeks held captive by the Taliban in Afghanistan were back home early Sunday - and apologising for the anguish they had caused.
Speaking on behalf of the missionary group - which had gone to Afganistan against Korean government advice - Yu Kyong Sik said: 'We owe the country and people a lot,' and apologised 'for the worry and unrest we have caused.'
They arrived at the airport in Incheon on a flight from Dubai, and were to be examined at a hospital, the Yonhap news agency reported.
The hostages were released in batches on Wednesday and Thursday. They were among a group of 23 Christian aid workers abducted on July 19 while travelling overland.
Two hostages were killed by the Taliban when deadlines for their demands were not met, while two women were freed about two weeks ago.
The South Korean government on Saturday again dismissed speculation that it had paid ransom to Taliban rebels to secure the release of the hostages.
'No such thing was given,' foreign minister Song Min Soon said on his return from a trip to Moscow, according to a report by the Yonhap news agency.
On Friday, a South Korean government spokesman had already denied any 'secret agreement' with the Taliban when asked whether the radical Islamist group had received a ransom in exchange for the kidnapped aid workers.
Japan's Ashai Shimbun newspaper had reported that the kidnappers had received a ransom of 2 million dollars. The newspaper quoted sources in Afghanistan.
A local mediator was convinced that there would have been no other way of ending the hostage drama, while observers in Afghanistan assumed that Seoul had paid a high ransom.
The South Korean government on Thursday said it had agreed to withdraw its 200 soldiers from Afghanistan - which had already been decided before the kidnappings - by year's end.
It said it had also promised to send no more 'Christian missionaries' into the country.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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Older Talkback
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'Given that Christianity promises a glorious afterlife why are these people apparently so traumatized? Surely their faith should have made them look forward to a pending trip to paradise? Sounds like Christianity like other religions is not all its cracked up to be!'
To be a faithful christian does not mean you are super human or have nerves of steel you are still in the physical HUMAN and subject to all the fears & concerns of the next person, the difference is you are enternally saved through gods gift to man.
It would have been more an advantage to the christian world if these hostages had stood up declared their faith in the Lord and told there government not to intervene, they should have been singing praises to god for the blessing he gave them, to die in his name doing his work, so much greater would be there reward be
There mistake was a lack of faith regardless of the outcome.
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cavlosnapSep 2nd, 2007 - 13:21:10
I am sorry that two of the group are dead in the same way I am sorry when a stranger is killed in an accident. I am sorry that the survivors had to go through such an ordeal.
A number of questions have to be asked though. What were these people doing in what is effectively a war zone? I have heard claims that they were medical missionaries but the reality seems to be they were busy proselytizing. If that is true it was hardly a wise thing to do in a country where the state religion advocates the murder of those of other faiths. In fact the real question is how could anyone be so stupid? What is the point putting oneself in harm's way for these people? Their given objective is the conversion or elimination of all those of other faiths.
Given that Christianity promises a glorious afterlife why are these people apparently so traumatized? Surely their faith should have made them look forward to a pending trip to paradise? Sounds like Christianity like other religions is not all its cracked up to be!
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