The 19 South Koreans who were freed by their Taliban kidnappers last week returned home Sunday to the tearful embraces of their loved ones.
After the hugs and tears, some family members were gently critical, questioning why in the first place the church group went to Afghanistan, where they were held captive by the Taliban for 40 days before being released under a deal struck last Tuesday between the insurgents and the South Korean Government."I thought you would be killed," Cheon Kwang-sil, 77, told her granddaughter Lee Young-kyung, according The Associated Press. "I told you not to go there."
At 22, Lee was the youngest of the original group of 23 aid volunteers - mostly medics and engineers - that was abducted July 19 in insurgency-prone Ghazni province while on their way to provide free medical care to poor Afghans.
After the deaths of two male captives and the first release of two women captives, the remaining 19 hostages were released last week under the deal struck between South Korea and Taliban representatives that sealed the withdrawal of 210 Korean troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year and a ban on all missionary groups from South Korea entering the country.
Earlier, the freed hostages spoke briefly with reporters, apologising to the South Korean people and the government for causing such concern.
