(Left) Shim Sung Min, 29, former IT worker, 2nd hostage killed/ (Right) Bae Hyung Kyu, 42, pastor, 1st hostage killed

This past week, the Afghan police discovered the body of the second South Korean hostage slain by the Taliban. The victim was 29 year old former IT worker Shim Sung Min. The Taliban spokesman revealed that Shim was killed because the Afghan government refused to release the Taliban prisoners.
In the mean time, the South Korean government will finally have face-to-face negotiations with Taliban in the next few days; it has also sent 8 envoys to the U.S. to appeal "flexibility"  Taliban told CBS news on Thursday that it was "satisfied" with the hostage talks done with the South Korea ambassador, citing that "60% progress has been made … [and] that they have no immediate plans of killing further hostages."

Ever since the Taliban kidnapped 23 South Korean aid workers on July 19, the South Korean government has been caught between two uncompromising forces-the Taliban who insist on a hostage-and-prisoner swap, and the USA-backed Afghan government who view that bowing to the militants' demands will only lead to more kidnappings.
"We shouldn't encourage kidnapping by actually accepting their demands," Humayun Hamidzada, a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, told reporters on Tuesday.
In response, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, accused the Kabul government of "lying and cheating," according to The Associated Press.

In the meantime, the Afgahn government has initiated military action not to save the hostages, but as a precautionary measure. Taliban has warned of "100% failure" of any hostage rescue plans.
"The government is well aware of how the international community deals with these kinds of abduction cases," Cheon Ho Seon, a spokesman for President Roh Moo Hyun of South Korea, said in a statement on Tuesday. "But it also believes that it would be worthwhile to use flexibility in the cause of saving the precious lives of those still in captivity, and is appealing to the international community to do so."
The South Korean appeal for flexibility came ahead of a meeting scheduled for Sunday between Mr. Karzai and President Bush at Camp David.

Mr. Karzai was severely criticized by the United States and European governments after he approved a deal in March in which five Taliban fighters were freed in exchange for the release of an Italian journalist. He called the trade a one-time deal.
The U.S. State Department spokesman, Tom Casey, said that Washington's longstanding policy against dealing with hostage takers had not changed, and that despite American concern for those being held, "I don't see any indication that we're going to be changing that any time soon."
According to New York Times, Paik Jin Hyun, an associate dean at the Graduate School of International Studies of Seoul National University, said that if the hostage crisis did not conclude satisfactorily, anti-American groups in South Korea might use it to promote anti-American sentiments in the country.

The People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, a major civic group based in Seoul, issued a statement on Tuesday accusing Washington of watching the hostage crisis "as if it were a fire across the river."
"As everyone knows, the Taliban's demand is something the U.S. government can help resolve, not the Afghan or South Korean government," it said. "The South Korean government, citing its alliance with the United States, dispatched troops for the U.S. war against terrorism," it added. "Now why can't it use the spirit of the alliance to help persuade the U.S. administration and save its own people?"
A Taliban spokesman has also revealed that two female hostages were under "critical condition" and that they might die without treatment. It is reported that some Afghani physicians are making their way to provide medical aid to the hostages, but Taliban has denied any sort of contact with these physicians.

The Economist, a British authoritative weekly newspaper, reports that South Korea will have to “contend with the consequences of its religious fervor,” mentioning that with “16,000 Christian missionaries abroad, Korea is second only to America when it comes to spreading the Gospel.” Several South Korean congregations have been criticized for sending its members to ever-risky missions despite the South Korean government’s travel warning of imminent danger. However, it seems that the Taliban will have to answer its remaining supporters as well for its inhumane actions as its religious credentials are “wearing thin” even among the Muslims. 

08/03/07