APPEAL FOR U.S. HELP
Any rescue operation would be fraught with danger as the Taliban have split the hostages into small groups and are holding them in several locations in the mainly flat but lush region.
South Korean parliamentarians left for the United States to persuade Washington to help end the standoff. The eight lawmakers hope to speak to U.S. and UN officials "to appeal for the quick and safe return of our people in Afghanistan", they said in a statement.
The South Korean government is under intense pressure to bring the captives home, but the power to meet the key Taliban demand -- the release of rebel prisoners -- lies with the Afghan government, which has so far refused to give in.
Seoul has called for "flexibility", a comment analysts say is directed at the United States to sway the Afghan government to strike a deal with the kidnappers.
The United States insists it does not make concessions to terrorists. But lawmakers are hoping Washington might make an exception to help bail out an ally that has sent troops to Afghanistan and Iraq.
South Korea's two largest conservative dailies said such visits might stir anti-U.S. sentiment if the ordeal deteriorates even further and could hurt negotiations on freeing the hostages.
"Anti-American sentiments by some elements are only helping the Taliban and justifying their atrocities," the Chosun Ilbo, the country's largest newspaper, said in Thursday's editorial.
A day before seizing the Koreans, the Taliban abducted two German engineers and five Afghan colleagues in Wardak province, which, like Ghazni, lies to the southwest of Kabul.
One German was found shot dead and one of the Afghans managed to escape. The other German and four Afghans are still being held. The Taliban have demanded Germany pulls its 3,000 troops out of Afghanistan in return for freeing the other German.
Berlin has rejected the demand.
