Category: Korea-General Topics

The remaining Korean hostages have been released and already international reaction to the Korean government’s handling of the crisis has been extremely critical with Canada leading the way:

In a move that could ruffle diplomatic feathers, Canada’s rookie foreign minister took a swipe at South Korea on Thursday for negotiating with the Taliban for the release of a group of hostages.“The Canadian position on dealings with terrorists is well known to all those with even a passing familiarity with the subject,” Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier said in a statement.

“We do not negotiate with terrorists, for any reason. Such negotiations, even if unsuccessful, only lead to further acts of terrorism.”

Bernier’s comments, which are unusually harsh for a top diplomat, came just hours before the Taliban released the remaining South Korean hostages. [Canada.com]

Germany as well shared the same sentiment of the Canadians (HT: Nomad):

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UPDATE #3: The South Korean government is coming under increasing criticism for their handling of the hostage crisis:

South Korea’s Munhwa Ilbo newspaper wrote that the handling of the crisis left the country with a "weighty burden" because it "shook" the international principle of not negotiating with terror groups and raised the Taliban’s status, helping it act "like a government."

"International skepticism that South Korean diplomacy is distanced from principle could remain a considerable burden," the newspaper said in an editorial. "We are concerned that this may give a wrong perception that South Korea can be pushed." [Chang Jae-soon, AP]

South Korea can be pushed around.  The country has been getting pushed around by the North Koreans for years so is it any surprise that the country can be pushed around by the Taliban?

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UPDATE #2: CNN is reporting that 12 hostages have now been released while the Marmot is reporting that Chung Doo-hwan was willing to trade himself for the hostages if they were not released.  Chung Doo-hwan hanging out with a bunch of Taliban; now that would be a sight to see.  Is it still to late to offer him up?

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UPDATE #1: Yonhap is reporting that three hostages Ahn Hye-jin, 31, Lee Jeung-ran, 33, and 34-year-old Han Ji-young have been released.

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The ransom payment laundered by the Saudis appears to have successfully gone through as the Korean government is reporting that the hostages will be released in the coming days.  Here is what the Korean government gave the Taliban in return:

The two sides agreed to a three-point deal, which included the withdrawal of 210 non-combatant Korean troops from the Central Asian nation by the end of the year, presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-seon said.

The other terms of the agreement are a ban on Korean Christian missionaries traveling to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the departure of all Korean non-governmental organizations from Afghanistan, Cheon said.

An Afghan source privy to the negotiations told The Korea Times that in addition the militants had agreed to grant safe passage to the Korean troops during their withdrawal, and had dropped their demand for the release of Taliban prisoners in exchange for the hostages. [Korea Times]

The Korean government claims they paid no ransom, but anyone who follows Korean politics knows this is more than likely untrue especially considering the fact that they already paid a ransom for the two hostages that have already been released.  The Chosun Ilbo is already reporting that an under the table deal was cut.  This is a huge financial and propaganda win for the Taliban and expect a whole lot more of this funded by South Korean taxpayers dollars:

Also Tuesday, a suicide bomber attacked NATO troops helping build a bridge in eastern Afghanistan, killing three American soldiers, a U.S. official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because not all families had been notified. NATO, in announcing the attack, said six soldiers also were wounded. [AP]

You can read a whole lot more over at One Free Korea, Marmot’s Hole, and Michelle Malkin.

There are now reports that a deal has been reached between the Korean government and the Taliban to release the remaining 19 hostages in Afghanistan:

The South Korean government remained calm Sunday despite reports that a deal has been reached on the release of 19 South Korean hostages in Afghanistan, but indicated that progress was being made in negotiations.
“There is no agreement yet for the release of the hostages,” a Foreign Ministry official said, asking that he not be identified. “Currently, we are moving on all fronts for the release of the hostages so there could be an outcome within days.”
The official was commenting on a report by the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) a day earlier that the Koreans will soon be released in a deal, in which the Seoul government has agreed to withdraw within “weeks” its 200-member army engineering unit deployed in the war-torn country. [Yonhap]

As I said before, I suspect a deal has been done and the hostages will be released over Ramadan. The Taliban does not want to be identified as the common Mafioso criminals that they are, thus openly releasing the hostages for a ransom payment is not they image they want to portray to the Muslim world. They want to covertly receive the ransom payment and then release the prisoners over Ramadan and claim they were released for humanitarian reasons. In Islamic culture Ramadan is the time of year when prisoners can receive forgiveness and amnesty from their captors. Ramadan begins September 13th. Thus sometime around September 13th I suspect they will be released.

Additionally the withdrawal of the engineer unit is just an added benefit to give legitimacy to their kidnapping of the Koreans in the first place. The only problem left to figure out is how to covertly receive the ransom payment. This is where the Saudis come in. Reports have also come out that the Saudis are helping the Koreans secure the hostages’ release. The Saudis will probably act as the money launderers for the Korean money.

This makes the Taliban happy because they get their ransom payment while simultaneously maintaining their image of being mujahadeen instead of the common criminals that they are and the Koreans are happy because they secured the hostages’ release. The only ones that lose in all of this are the two dead Korean hostages executed by the Taliban and the future Afghan civilians and coalition forces killed with the new armaments that the Taliban will be able to buy courtesy of the Korean government, but since when has the Korean government cared about that?

There has been few developments since the release of the two female hostages as the crisis enters its 36th day. The only big changes has been how this crisis is receiving little media attention as the negotiations drag on. The biggest recent news was the statements made to the media by the two released hostages calling for the release of the remaining hostages:

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This is just another hint of what South Korean government is prepared to give up to the North Koreans during the second Inter-Korean Summit actual physical South Korean territory. 

Lee told the parliamentary standing committee on unification the “characteristics and historical background” of the sea border are important, but so are “the purposes South Korea aims to achieve through the establishment of the maritime border.” The minister made the remarks in response to Grand National Party Rep. Shim Jae-yup, who had asked why South Korean soldiers risked their lives to protect the sea border if it was “not a territorial concept,” as Lee had asserted on Aug. 10. There has been intense speculation that South Korea will discuss redrawing the NLL at the upcoming inter-Korean summit.

Shim said Lee seemed to mean that the 2002 battle would not have occurred if Seoul had accepted Pyongyang’s demand to redraw the NLL. The lawmaker accused Lee of insulting the memory of the South Korean soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the nation.

It is quite sickening that Unifiction Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung is declaring that the six sailors killed and the eighteen more that were wounded in the deliberate North Korean attack died for nothing because they should not have been defending South Korean territory in the first place.  The Roh Moo-hyun administration has been treating the soldiers killed in this battle as if they never existed, so it should come as no surprise that they are about to give up South Korean territory that has been defended for years with the blood of South Korean naval personnel.  Can the men that died and were wounded that day be any more dishonored by this administration than by giving away the territory they gave their lives and blood to defend? 

I posted a couple of months ago about the KBS report I saw on television about Incheon International Airport taxi drivers overcharging foreigners.  Courtesy of the Marmot he has translated a Hankyoreh report of an investigation they have done as well into the corruption of the airport taxi drivers. 

For instance, a taxi ride from Incheon Airport to Seoul City Hall normally costs 40,000 won (by normal taxi) and 70,000 won (by call van), but these jokers were charging 150,000 won.

Police said that the “bonbang” would not allow other taxi drivers to work in their turf, assaulting drivers who tried. In May, gang members beat the crap out of a taxi driver who didn’t belong to the “bonbang,” leaving the victim with wounds that took four weeks to heal.

Police are investigating whether the “bonbang” used violence or threats on the foreigners they overcharged as well.

An employee at a hotel in Myeongdong said there are at least one or two arguments a week between foreigners and “call van” taxi drivers over fares. He also said — sit down for this — that taxi drivers regularly overcharge US soldiers (!), referring to the hapless GIs as “butter.”

Just for the record the vast majority of taxi cab drivers in Seoul and Korea in general are quite honest and will give you no problems.  However, there are certain areas where the cab drivers are some of the lowest scum you will find in Korea and Incheon airport is just one of those places.  If you are a foreigner, do not take a taxi from Incheon airport; take either the bus or the new installed train.  The bus is much cheaper than a taxi and more comfortable as well with its large, spacious seats.  The train is also cheap, quite comfortable, and uncrowded.  The only downside with the train is that it only goes as far as Kimpo Airport where you have to transfer on to the subway, but construction is continuing on the line to take the train all the way to downtown Seoul.  Both these options are much better than taking a taxi cab. 

I have long pointed out on this blog that other places to watch out for dishonest cab drivers is Uijongbu, particularly the Uijongbu train station and Stanleyville, as well as in the city of Dongducheon.  These cab drivers regularly rip off soldiers and even try to provoke incidents in hopes of big payoffs. 

These taxi drivers are vultures who are looking to rip off GIs. They know that the GI’s are desperate to get back to camp before curfew, so they feel free to charge exuberant fees, knowing full well that the soldier will more than likely pay it because they have to get back to camp. However, sometimes when you got a GI that is drunk and the cab driver tries to rip him off, tensions mount and the incidents occur. It is not an excuse for a soldier to get in a scuffle with a taxi driver, but it is just the reality of what is happening.  The foreigners at the airport are just getting a taste of what soldiers in Uijongbu and Dongducheon have to regulary deal with in regards to cab drivers.  So will there ever be undercover investigation of the cab drivers in Uijongbu and Dongducheon?  Probably not, but the uncovering of the corrupt cab drivers at Incheon airport is at least a start.

Two Korean hostages have been released.

Many developments as the Korean hostage crisis moves into its 25th day. After the conflicting reports of the release and then reimprisonment of two Korean hostages the Afghan government has banned all media from the city where direct negotiations with the Taliban have been taking place:

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Unsurprisingly the Taliban promise to release two female Korean hostages has been broken:

In the first face-to-face negotiations with South Korean officials on Saturday, Taliban leaders reportedly agreed to set free two sick female hostages as a sign of good faith but they later shelved the plan, according to Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, who describes himself as speaking for the Taliban.

"The plan to release two female hostages first is still valid, but the timing has not been fixed yet," Ahmadi told Yonhap News Agency by telephone.

The spokesman said Taliban’s plan to release two Korean women was put on hold at the last moment. He declined further comments, only saying, "I hope the situation will be resolved quickly."

This is all code words for the Taliban thinking Seoul will pay even more ransom than what they are already offering.  No word on how this is all America’s fault yet. 

UPDATE: The ransom money negotiations must have gone well because the Taliban have reportedly planned to release two female hostages.  The reported going rate for the Korean hostages is $1 million per hostage.  So in theory $19 million dollars should be enough to end the hostage crisis.  How come I don’t think things will end that easily?

More over at Marmot and Nomad.

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The announcement of the Second Inter-Korean summit has pretty much knocked the hostage crisis out of the headlines for now, but there has only been a few developments to report anyway.  The Taliban and the Korean government were still haggling on a place to conduct face to face talks, but the Taliban were still demanding that the UN protect them.  This demand continued to be quite ironic considering the fact that the Taliban has been committed to killing UN aid workers in Afghanistan. 

Since the UN would not provide a security guarantee the Taliban instead turned to the Red Cross, which also ironically happens to be another organization that the Taliban has murdered aid workers from.  The Red Cross has agreed to facilitating the talks which have already reportedly been concluded. 

After all the talk that the Taliban did not want ransom money, but only a hostage exchange, it appears that they have now changed their mind and they in fact want ransom money.  Also the Korean government has withdrawn all Korean aid workers from Afghanistan in some kind of hope that this would please the Taliban.  As if the Taliban cares.

The families of the hostages have sent a letter to the Taliban.  I don’t want to make light of what the families are going through, but it is clear where the naivety of these young people who went to Afghanistan came from after reading this letter.  Mothers of the hostages are also traveling to Dubai to appeal to Arab countries to help end the hostage crisis.  Here is the reported reason why they are going:

"The reason why we are sending women, especially mothers, to Dubai is that Islamic culture has more sympathy for women," said the spokesman, Cha Sung-min.

It is not often you hear "Islamic culture" and "sympathy for women" in the same sentence. 

It is interesting to watch this whole crisis play out because the Korean government is basically implementing the Taliban version of the Sunshine Policy.  Retreat on all fronts, kiss as much ass as possible, and offer bribes for little in return. 

Police have released more information that the Virginia Tech shooter Cho Seung-hui may have conducted a dry run of his shooting rampage just two days before the shootings.  Additionally the police still have not been able to link why Cho shot certain victims as well as why he shot students in the building that he did. 

The strangest thing is that Cho hid hard drives from multiple computers that he owned.  The police have been unable to find where Cho had the hard drives.  If those hard drives could be found I bet a lot of questions about why Cho did what he did could be answered.