Female Korean Hostage Forfeited Freedom for Colleague
A Taliban militant said Wednesday that one of the hostages had foregone her chance of freedom to allow another captive who was more ill to be released.
by Michelle Vu, Christian Today Correspondent
Posted: Thursday, August 16, 2007, 8:43 (BST)
After a day of over-the-phone talks, the Taliban announced Wednesday that direct talks would resume on Thursday for the remaining 19 South Korean hostages.
"The talks will resume tomorrow at 10 o'clock (3:30 a.m. EDT) in the same place in Ghazni province," said Taliban spokesman Ahmadi, according to Agence France-Presse.
Talks have been held at the local headquarters of the Afghan Red Crescent Society, which is associated with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Although outwardly the rebels still appear to be demanding a prisoner-hostage exchange, inside reports say a ransom deal is quietly taking place.
Taliban negotiators have reportedly asked for $500,000 for the release of each hostage or a total of nearly $10m. South Korea, meanwhile, has said they are willing to pay $500,000 for all 19 remaining hostages, according to The Korea Times.
If the report is true, both sides likely resorted to ransom negotiations after Washington and Kabul both made it clear that there would be no exchange of Taliban prisoners for Korean hostages - the Taliban's main demand since the beginning.
Rebel prisoners are held by Afghan and US military, and South Korea has repeatedly told the Taliban that they have no control over the release of the rebels.
It has been nearly a month since the Taliban militants abducted the group of 23 South Korean Christian volunteers on July 19 - the largest abduction of foreigners in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001. During that period, two male hostages have been killed - the leader of the group, Bae Hyung-kyu, who was found dead on July 25, and 29-year-old Shim Sung-min, whose body was found July 30.
The South Korean embassy has declined to confirm the new round of talks, but has said that communications with the Taliban "remain open," according to AFP.
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The comments below are readers' personal opinions and are in no way intended to reflect the editorial opinion of Christian Today.
Added: Wednesday, September 12, 2007, 21:42 (BST)
Andrew you are incorrect... the story has been proven to be true since the release of all the remaining hostages.
Todd, Seattle
Added: Saturday, August 25, 2007, 15:34 (BST)
Andrew, according to Korean news source, the woman who gave up her place is Lee Ji-young. She even sent home a letter to her mom, and her mom said (at a press conference on Aug.24, not just a newspaper interview) that she is proud about Lee Ji-young's actions.
Co Ho, Orange County, CA (USA)
Added: Sunday, August 19, 2007, 10:56 (BST)
This story has been proven to be false. According to the two released hostages, they claimed since they were moved around so much by Taliban, they thought when they were asked to get into the car, they thought it was just another move. They were quoted of saying that they never dreamed that they were going to be relased until the last minute. That story contradict the abobe mentioned story since no one knew they were being relased. There is some speculation from many Koreans that the whole story about the generous hostage was fabricated by conservative Korean news paper Chosun Ilbo.
Andrew, LA, California USA
Added: Friday, August 17, 2007, 13:04 (BST)
Another wonderful story of the love of God which we have been talking about.My prayer is that the eyes of the Talibans will be opened to see that Christ died for them also.I believe that the Church in Korea will experience a mighty revival at the end of the day despite all negative comments.
ADEEKO OLUMIDE, IBADAN,NIGERIA.
Added: Thursday, August 16, 2007, 13:10 (BST)
What a beautiful act of love. May God have mercy on those other 19 hostages remaining - may he see them return home safely.
Jane, Luton, UK
