Category: Korea-General Topics

The summit between President Bush and Afghan President Karzai has made it quite clear, he is not giving into terrorist demands:

U.S President George W. Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karazi agreed on Monday morning not to give in to Taliban kidnappers of 23 Koreans in Afghanistan. In a meeting at the U.S. presidential retreat of Camp David in Maryland, the two made it clear there will be no release of Taliban prisoners in return for the freedom of the surviving 21 Korean hostages, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said. “The Taleban are brutal and should not be emboldened by this,” he added.

This is probably joy to the ears of the anti-US groups in Korea.  Now all they have to hope for is that the terrorists kill the Korean hostages and then they can really start jumping for joy because they will probably get more traction with their anti-US campaign.  Truly disgusting people, but when you are used to making excuses for North Korea making excuses for the Taliban comes easy.

Meanwhile the Taliban continues to want the UN to intervene to set up direct negotiations with the South Korean government, but the UN is unlikely to get involved because they say they don’t deal with terrorist groups.  The Africa Union has condemned the Taliban kidnappers as well today if anyone cares because I’m sure the Taliban doesn’t.

The Korean media is beginning to come around with the Joong Ang Ilbo and the Chosun Ilbo releasing editorials bashing the anti-US groups, politicians, and media who are trying to foment anti-US sentiment over the hostage crisis.  It is good to see some sanity returning to the Korean media, but we’ll see how long it lasts once the Taliban starts killing more hostages. 

The latest development in the Korean hostage crisis is that the Taliban has turned to the United Nations to guarantee the safety of Taliban negotiators.  It is a bit ironic that the Taliban is turning to the UN for protection when the Taliban has been actively murdering UN aid workers in Afghanistan.  It is not clear what negotiating power the Koreans will have since they have ruled out military force and the Afghan government is not going to release the Taliban prisoners. 

Meanwhile eight Korean government lawmakers are trying to harass Presidents Bush and Karzai who are meeting at Camp David into releasing Taliban prisoners:

Separately, eight South Korean lawmakers met State Department officials in Washington on Thursday to seek help.

"We have confirmed the complete support and sympathy for the Korean hostages who are going through great distress," lawmaker Park Jin told reporters after the meeting.

The South Korean government 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.

This is only going to cause Karzai to be less likely to release any Taliban prisoners.  There is no way Karzai is going to release Taliban prisoners after being publicly pressured by the Korean government because it makes him look weak to the Afghani public.  I’m sure the Korean government officials know this, but the purpose of the trip was to deflect blame not an attempt to constructively work towards solving the hostage crisis.  These South Korean politicians are trying to show the Korean public that their government is trying to do something, but Bush and Karzai are the ones not doing anything. 

While the Korean government is trying to set up the US as the bogeymen if the hostages are killed, the US military is busy actually doing something that will help the hostages.  Over past two weeks increasing military operations have been launched against Taliban leadership targets.  It appears that the US military is putting pressure on the Taliban leadership by knocking them off one by one.  The latest Taliban leader to be reportedly killed was Mansor Dadullah who if you remember correctly from the Newsweek article was the Taliban leader who was in charge of foreigner kidnappings in Afghanistan. 

If the US military is able to accurately target Taliban leadership like they have these past few weeks they almost certainly are tracking the movements of the Korean hostages as well.  The Taliban kidnappers probably realize this and are probably now hesitant to kill any more hostages because it would mean the US military would be forced to launch a hostage rescue mission to save what hostages they could. 

It is amazing that with all the anti-US demagoguery by the Korean government, anti-US groups, and media that the one country doing more than anyone else to free the Korean hostages is the United States.  Holding one man vigils in front of the US embassy in Seoul will not save the hostages, negotiating from a point of strength by killing top Taliban leadership targets will. 

I expected the Roh Administration to be consistently incompetent in handling the hostage crisis and so far I have not been disappointed.  The latest incompetency is that the Korean government paid ransom to the wrong people:

For now, though, the chances of a breakthrough seem slim. Indeed, the negotiations seem to be marked by confusion. The senior Taliban commander tells NEWSWEEK that a newly arrived South Korean envoy, a Ghazni member of parliament and some government negotiators, may have been talking to a bogus Taliban group that was posing as the kidnappers and has demanded and received some money. There is no way to verify the claim of the commander, who has provided reliable information to NEWSWEEK in the past. But he insists that he has never asked for any money, and is only interested in an exchange of the hostages for Taliban prisoners. (HT: Nomad)

This news broke in a Newsweek interview with the Taliban.  Of course the Korean government has denied this, but I see no reason why the Taliban would lie about this plus this is the incompetency I expect from the Korean government.  Make sure you read the whole article because as I suspected the big white bus they were driving in on the highway with no security is what drew their attention to kidnap the missionaries. 

I still cannot get over how naive and stupid these people are.  They might as well have hung a banner on the side of the bus saying "Kidnap Me!" 

If anyone is wondering why the Afghan government does not want to release Taliban prisoners here is your reason why:

The impasse has placed Afghan President Hamid Karzai in an almost impossible predicament. Last March, facing a similar dilemma and under heavy pressure from Italy, Karzai ordered the release of five senior Taliban officials in exchange for an Italian journalist, Daniele Mastrogiacomo, who had been abducted along with his Afghan driver and interpreter. The Taliban executed the two Afghans, and Karzai’s European and U.S. allies widely criticized his humanitarian gesture. One of the freed Taliban commanders, Mansor Dadullah, is now directing suicide bombings and other attacks against Afghan and American forces from his redoubt on the Afghan-Pakistan border.

Who knows how many people have died because of the freeing of one Italian journalist, not that Seoul cares because they just discovered the Taliban are not "conscientious Muslims" and have been attempting to shift responsibility for the whole crisis on to the US.

To further show Korean governmental incompetence the government is sending members from the national assembly to Washington to lobby President Bush who is meeting with Afghan President Karzai at Camp David the next two days, to release the Taliban prisoners.  All these governmental officials are just going to make Karzai dig in his feet even more because he is not going to give in to public governmental pressure from Korea.  The Korean government continues to do more harm than good for these hostages. 

At least the hostages’ families are seeing through the charade being organized by the Korean government, anti-US groups, and their media allies:

The families of the Korean hostages spoke out against a movement to hold the U.S. responsible for the unresolved crisis, saying anti-American demonstrations could put the hostages’ lives at greater risk. The families turned down an offer by some anti-American organizations to stage a candlelight rally.

Lee Jeong-hoon, a representative of the families, said on Thursday, “Since an anti-American demonstration could have a negative influence on the negotiations for the release of the hostages, we have made efforts to avoid being involved in any such demonstrations.” “An anti-American movement could be what the Taliban want,” Lee said. “We rejected suggestions by some anti-American groups to hold a candlelight vigil and march to the U.S. Embassy in Korea.” (HT: OFK)

What a mess this hostage crisis is and the people of Korea have their most incompetent administration in decades to try and solve it.  Just ask yourself, if you were Korean would you want President Roh trying to save you? 

You can read more over at Hot Air

Here is some breaking news, the Joong Ang Ilbo has discovered that the Taliban are not "conscientious Muslims":

The deep sorrow of Shim’s family is the pain and sadness of us all. We shall never forget the cruelty and cowardice of the Taliban.
The evidence of these cold-blooded killings suggests the Taliban are no longer conscientious Muslims but have become murderous pyschopaths.

You mean to tell me the executions, beheadings, stoning of women, suicide bombings, among a host of other vicious crimes committed by the Taliban over the years was not enough to convice the Joong Ang Ilbo until now that the Taliban is not "conscientious Muslims", but "murderous pyschopaths"? 

So how does the Joong Ang recommend dealing with these "murderous pyschopaths"?  By giving in to their demands:

So the best solution, to prevent the deaths of other hostages is to release the Taliban prisoners held by the Afghan government, as the kidnappers demand.
But the Korean government cannot force the Afghan government to do that, so more Koreans are likely to die. The Afghan government is reluctant to free Taliban prisoners because the United States, its principal ally, has a policy of no compromise with terrorists.

Basically what this columnist is claiming is that the past crimes of the Taliban are not that of "murderous pyschopaths" because they were not directed against Koreans.  Only now that the Taliban are targeting Koreans are they considered criminals.  This mind set is why the Koreans advocating giving into terrorist demands don’t care if freed Taliban prisoners go on to kill Afghan civilians and American soldiers, as long as they are not Koreans. 

UPDATE #2: The anti-US blame game being played in Korea is now making headlines in the US:  (HT: Nomad)

South Korea‘s frustration over the plight of Christian volunteers seized by the Taliban is starting to focus on the United States, a frequent target of resentment here. Politicians and citizens of all persuasions are increasingly calling on Washington to help resolve the 15-day-old standoff, believing the United States to be the only country capable of pushing Afghanistan to meet the captors’ demands that Taliban prisoners be freed.  […]

An anti-American backlash could boost liberals who have increasingly pushed for Seoul to assert its independence from Washington at the expense of the conservative pro-U.S. opposition that now holds a commanding lead.

What is ironic about this whole thing is that the leftist anti-US politicians are the very reason that Korea has little influence with the US and with what is going on in Afghanistan.  If anyone thinks electing another leftist liberal politician is going to change this fact, they will be sadly mistaken and instead will become even more irrelevant.

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UPDATE #1: The Taliban has agreed to meet Korean diplomats:

“A South Korean diplomatic delegation is to meet the Taliban for face-to-face talks to look for ways and solutions to free the South Korean nationals,” Ghazni governor Mirajuddin Pattan said.

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Early today rumors of a hostage rescue mission were swirling around, but were quickly put down by the Afghan government. These rumors caused the Taliban to threaten to kill four more prisoners as the hostage crisis continues on for yet another day.

Also today the blame America campaign being waged by the Korean media and government went into overdrive. I almost don’t even know where to begin. Let’s start with Choe Sang-hun’s article in the New York Times:

On Tuesday, the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, a civic group based in Seoul, issued a statement 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,” the statement said. “The South Korean government, citing its alliance with the United States, dispatched troops for the U.S. war against terrorism. Now why can’t it use the spirit of the alliance to help persuade the U.S. administration and save its own people?”

So who is the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) to be waving the “spirit of the alliance” card you may ask? Well they are just another anti-US group that was a member of the Korean Alliance Against the Korea-U.S. FTA that even had one of their own set himself on fire outside one of the FTA meetings in Seoul.

You want some more “spirit of the alliance” from the PSPD? How about this quote from them after the defeat in local elections of the ruling Uri Party:

Mr. Kim of the PSPD said, “The Roh Moo-hyun government should look back to its identity. In the past, the government said it would resolve economic polarization, but it pushed talks for a free trade agreement with the U.S. In addition, the government said it would say what it has to say in diplomacy, but it allowed the U.S. forces to move their base to Daechu-ri.”

The PSPD has been one of the leading groups trying to stop the USFK transformation and relocation to Camp Humphreys and now all of the sudden they are one of the biggest defenders of the “spirit of the alliance”.

The “spirit of the alliance” doesn’t end there. The PSPD has in the past joined forces with North Korean apologists the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) which last year was linked to a North Korean spy ring, to attack the very alliance the PSPD are now advocating:

In the declaration, they demanded that the U.S. government apologize for crimes involving GIs, thoroughly investigate the massacres of Koreans during the Korean War and offer compensation. They also called for an immediate closure of the Koon-ni bombing range in Maehyang-ri, Kyonggi Province and revision of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the U.S. and south Korea.

The 200 figures who signed the declaration included former Deputy Prime Minister Han Wan Sang; Kang Man Gil, professor emeritus at Korea University; Kim Jong Bae, co-leader of the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) and Dang Byong Ho, chief of the south Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU).

There is more, but I think everyone gets the picture of who the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy group really is. There is plenty more absurdity to come and one of my noted useful idiots Chung Dong-young never fails to deliver. Courtesy of the Marmot’s Hole is this letter to President Bush from the former Korean Unification Minister:

If the 23 (now 21) hostages were American and not Korean, we ask what would the US have done in this situation. Koreans believe that since this crisis is a part of the War on Terror, the US is the main party and not a third party. We appeal to the US to think of the hostages as Americans and take specific measures to solve this crisis.

We respect that there is a “seen principle” among nations that they should not negotiate with terrorists, but there is also an “unseen principle”. We remember the case where an American female journalist was released in exchange for five Iraqi female prisoners, which means there is a recognition that there is an exemption to the non negotiating principle.

Saving a life is more important than one’s obligations and profit. If Pres. Bush was to step forward and save the hostages, then people around the world will continue praising you for your determination, leadership, management, and love.

So who is Chung? Well he is just another one of these “spirit of the alliance” guys that has also just happened to blame the US for the Japanese colonization of the peninsula prior to World War II, blamed the US for the Korean War, and blamed the US for the Gwangju Incident. So it isn’t really surprising he is blaming the US now if the hostages die and of course he is not alone. Via Sonagi comes this quote from Roe Hoe-chan who I just featured in my latest Korea Finder:

Assemblyman Roe Hoe-chan said, “If the US doesn’t show sincerity with regard to the hostage crisis, it’ll practically be a declaration that the US doesn’t care about the safety of Koreans because of its own interests. It’ll be difficult for our citizens to tolerate that. He continued, “If hostages continue to be killed because of America’s rigid stance, anti-American sentiments will be even stronger than in the aftermath of the deaths of Hyo-sun and Mi-seon.”

It was only a matter of time before some demagogue tried to link this current crisis to the 2002 Armored Vehicle Accident for their own political advantage. The fact the Roe is the first to do it is not surprising in the least.

You can always count on Oh My News to keep the absurdity coming:

The South Korean government indirectly asked for the United States, which exercises undue influence over the Afghan government, to be more flexible with its principled policy not to negotiate with terrorists.

“Undue influence”? I think the fact that the US military liberated Afghanistan from the Taliban and has continued to pour blood and treasure into making Afghanistan a sustainable state for the past six years is DUE INFLUENCE, which Korea does not have because they have never been committed to fighting terrorism in the first place. The Roh administration could care less if the government of Afghanistan collapsed tomorrow if it wasn’t for the hostages. There is plenty more laughers in the Oh My News article, but I’ll leave everyone with this quote:

On top of this, the Taliban are also plunging the leadership of South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun into an even worse crisis, trouncing the whole South Korean diplomacy that, before the tragic incident occurred, has smoothly — and successfully to date — handled the North Korean nuclear issues. Namely, inter-Korean affairs have all of sudden dropped to sideshows in terms of foreign policy priorities.

You mean to tell me that North Korea firing missiles all over the Pacific Ocean, testing a nuclear bomb, reneging and then renegotiating a signed agreement that to this day they have failed to fully implement is a sign of Korea’s smooth and successful foreign diplomacy? If this is the case these hostages are most certainly doomed.

There is a whole lot more examples I can provide of the blame game being perpetuated against the United States, but I think it is pretty clear the blame America campaign is currently in overdrive. The fact is that the Korean left and their media allies could care less about these hostages because according to Representative Roe’s own admission, they are trying to turn the hostage crisis into an anti-US issue equivalent to what happened in 2002. Remember it took months for the media and the activist groups to distort what happened during the accident that year in order to set the conditions necessary for the anti-US orgy of hate that took place, that ultimately led to the leftist Roh Moo-hyun being elected president.

The Korean left has no chance of winning the presidential election this year in Korea unless they can find another anti-US issue to rally behind. Chung Dong-young is one of the leftist candidates running for president thus expect him to lead the charge to blame the US for any future deaths of the hostages and use his North Korean linked activist groups to push it on the public. This is the real “spirit of the alliance” in Korea.

UPDATE: The body of the Shim Sung-min has been recovered verifying that two hostages have now been killed.  With the bodies beginning to pile up the anti-US movement in Korea is moving quickly to capitalize on it with of course the DLP leading the way:

Officials of the labor-friendly minor opposition Democratic Labor Party, including party chief Moon Sung-hyun (C), holds a press conference in front of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul on July 31, demanding that the United States take immediate actions to defuse a Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan.

As some of you may remember the DLP is the political party that was linked to a North Korean spy group last year that had been using activists groups to push anti-US causes in Korea.  This is just the latest cause the DLP is hoping to turn into an anti-US issue.  It is an election year and the Korean left is in desperate need of a anti-US issue in order to influence this year’s election. 

Of course the Korean government is falling right in line with this thinking by trying to transfer responsibility for the hostage crisis to the United States:

The kidnappers are demanding the release of prisoners in Afghan jails in exchange for Korean nationals. But this demand is not within the power of the Korean government because it doesn’t have any effective means to influence decisions of the Afghan government," said the statement.

"The Korean government strongly condemns and urges an immediate end to these heinous acts of killing innocent people in order to press for demands that it can’t meet… Kidnapping and killing innocent people can’t be justified for any cause."
The statement indirectly urged the United States, which exerts strong influence over the Afghan government, to be more flexible with its traditional policy not to negotiate with terrorists.

"The government is well aware of how the international community deals with these kinds of abduction cases. 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 the international community to do so," said the statement.

The U.S. has reportedly opposed the Taliban’s demand that Kabul swap jailed Taliban insurgents for the Korean hostages.

Last I checked the hostages were Koreans and the Korean government is a sovereign body with the world’s fifth largest army.  This whole thing is especially ironic when one considers the Korean government’s attitude the past five years of wanting "independent diplomacy" and a "more equal relationship" with the US, but when it is time to act like a grown up nation it is back to the were the "helpless Korea" diplomacy and America needs to do something.  It is really pathetic and I think there is a strong possibility this obvious attempt to transfer responsibility of this crisis to the US and stoke anti-US sentiment will back fire on them. 

The Roh Moo-hyun administration is extremely unpopular in Korea and judging by internet chat sites, the Korean public has seen this blame America game one too many times and aren’t readily falling for it this time.  The next few weeks is going to be quite interesting to see how this all plays out, but expect the anti-US movement to continue to try and capitolize off this tragedy, digusting but true. 

You can read more over at Lost Nomad, Michelle Malkin, & Michael Hurt.

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Taliban Claim to Have Killed Another Hostage
The deadline given by the Taliban has passed last night and this morning news of a second Korean hostage being executed has surfaced:

A purported Taliban spokesman claimed the hardline militia killed a second South Korean hostage Monday because the Afghan government failed to release imprisoned insurgents. Afghan officials said they hadn’t recovered a body and couldn’t confirm the claim.

The Al-Jazeera television network, meanwhile, showed footage that it said was seven female hostages in Afghanistan.

Militant spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said senior Taliban leaders decided to kill the male captive because the government had not met Taliban demands to trade prisoners for the Christian volunteers.

Yonhap is reporting that the executed hostage as 29 year old Shim Sung-min:

The Taliban are saying the Korean government has two more days before they execute the next male hostage.  Once they finish killing males hostages they will start killing the females.  No matter what you think about the foolishness of this group they don’t deserve to be executed and how anybody couldn’t feel anything but fury at these Taliban thugs is beyond me, but of course leave it to the UN to say they "express concern" over the situation.  Where the heck is Ban Ki-moon on this?  Why is he keeping silent over this while his fellow counrymen’s bodies are piling up. 

While the Taliban is killing hostages the Korean government is continuing their campaign to deflect blame on to the United States:

Calls have been mounting here for Washington to get more involved. Considering Washington’s influence on the Afghan government, many see the United States as playing a critical role in resolving the hostage crisis.

"As an ally, the U.S. must assume a more active role," said Kim Won-woong, an Uri Party member and head of the National Assembly’s unification, foreign affairs and commerce committee. He pointed out that Korea dispatched peacekeeping troops to Afghanistan to support the United States.

How about you dispatch a brigade of ROK special forces to go after and kill these Taliban?  If the Afghan government is expected to free 23 Taliban killers than the Korean government should be expected to go and kill them after their released not to mention killing the Taliban that are murdering Korean citizens right now.  However, it takes bold leadership and great statemanship to implement such a policy, which are two things the current Korean government greatly lacks.  Thus it is easier to blame the US if the hostages die, which is of course nothing new.

I think a presidential candidate right now would be smart to take a strong stand on this issue and demand that President Roh do something besides look weak and indecisive.  However, even in the political opposition I don’t see any bold leadership or statemanship coming from them either, thus things are looking worse and worse for these hostages. 

You can read a whole lot more over at the Marmot’s Hole and Michelle Malkin.

CBS News was some how able to arrange an interview with one of the Korean hostages.  Here is what the Korean hostage , Im Hyun-joo had to say:

"We are in a very difficult time. Please help us," said the woman, who gave her name as Yo Cyun-ju. "We are all pleading for you to help us get out of here as soon as possible… Really, we beg you."

"All of us are sick and in very bad condition," she said. Yo beseeched the South Korean government and the international community to make a deal with the Taliban to win their release.

She said the hostages were being held in two groups — she was with 17 other women, and the men were being held separately.

While the hostages are begging the government to meet the Taliban’s demands Korean President Roh has dispatched a presidential envoy Baek Jong-chun to Afghanistan.  Baek before leaving was talking tough:

"The organization responsible for the abduction will be held accountable for taking the life of a Korean citizen," said Baek Jong Chun, chief secretary for security and foreign policy for President Roh Moo Hyun.

However, the Chosun is reporting that his real mission is to pressure Afghan President Karzai to agree to a prisoner swap.  Simultaneously the Korean media continues to put the onus on American and Afghan governments to free the hostages:

In face-to-face talks, Korea must abide by international standards and regulations in dealing with terrorist groups. This is unavoidable when the entire world is looking at how Korea handles itself diplomatically.

But on the other side, we must use all the resources available to us. It is impossible for us to physically suppress the terrorist group. Regarding the slaying of Rev. Bae, the Korean government said the abductors cannot avoid being held responsible for their actions. But right now, there is no viable method of retaliation. If that’s the case, there is no other alternative than to deliver a strong message to Kabul and Washington that saving Korean lives must be the top priority.

"Impossible for us to physically suppress the terrorist group"?  How about Baek Jong-chun load up the 707th Special Missions Battalion (ROK Delta) sitting over in Seongnam to go with him.  The excuse that the ROK government cannot physically do anything is totally fraudulent.  The ROK government can physically do something about the hostage crisis, but chooses not to.  Also it seems a bit naive to say the least that Kabul’s top priority should be saving Korean lives.  What about the lives of Afghan civilians that releasing a bunch of Taliban killers from prison would definitely impact.  Karzai’s top priority is the safety of his own people, not Koreans.  If I was Karzai I would tell the Korean government that if you want me to release these Taliban prisoners than you send me a brigade of ROK Special Forces to go hunt them down after the Taliban prisoners are released.  Now that would be sending a message to the Taliban that Korea will not stand for the kidnapping and killing of its civilians.  However, knowing President Roh expect more appeasement and payoffs to the Taliban. 

More details have also come out about the botched attempt to pay ransom.  Apparently the eight hostages were actually put on a bus to meet up for the ransom money, but turned the bus around when they saw government tanks.  After that the male hostage Bae Hyung-kyu was killed. 

Choe Sang-hun of the International Herald Tribune has a good article about Christian missionaries in South Korea and its role in this incident. 

Michelle Malkin as well has another posting up and has also been closely following the hostage crisis.

UPDATE: I just saw on CNN International that it has confirmed that the eight Korean hostages have not been released and are still threatening to kill the others.  Whoever it was in the Korean government that leaked word that eight hostages were released should be fired for getting the family member’s hopes up like that. 

Apparently the hostage for ransom handover was botched and that is what led to the killing of the hostage:

Reports suggest that South Korea attempted to pay a substantial ransom but that during the handover the Taleban became nervous and failed to appear. Haji Mohammad Sadiq, the subgovernor of the Qarabagh district, told The Times: “They tried to pay them a ransom. They arranged a meeting with the Taleban, but the Taleban got scared and did not show up.”

I tend to agree with Joshua’s thoughts that if President had any statemanship in him he would prepare ROK combat forces to deploy to Afghanistan to hunt down these killers if they continue to kill hostages.  Instead of whining about the US not pressuring Afghanistan to give into terrorists demands, how about getting the 1st ROK Special Forces Brigade (Airborne) along with the 707th Special Missions Battalion (ROK Delta) ready to deploy to go after these killers. 

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Tragic news the execution of the South Korean hostages has begun:

Afghan police discovered the bullet-riddled body of a male hostage on Wednesday, one of 23 South Koreans kidnapped by the Taliban last week.

Because of a recent spike in kidnappings — including an attempt against a Danish citizen Wednesday — police announced foreigners were no longer allowed to leave the Afghan capital without their permission.

The South Korean victim was found with 10 bullet holes in his head, chest and stomach in the Mushaki area of Qarabagh district in Ghazni province, the region where the group was seized July 19 while riding a bus, said Abdul Rahman, a police officer.

A police official, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation, said militants told him the hostage was sick and couldn’t walk and was therefore shot. A South Korean public broadcaster, KBS, identified the victim as 42-year-old pastor Bae Hyung-kyu.

Here is the the link to the KBS report.  The Taliban are threatening to kill the rest of the hostages by the end of the day if they do not get the release of Taliban prisoners in exchange for the hostages. 

The KBS report as well as the Chosun Ilbo and Joong Ang Ilbo are also reporting that the Taliban has released 8 female hostages, but the Associated Press has said Afghan officials have denied this report.  Kyodo News Agency in Japan is reporting that the Korean government payed "a huge amount of money" to the Taliban for their release.  If the Korean government has already paid a huge amount of money for the release of the first eight expect more money to be paid soon enough.  The Joong Ang  Ilbo report says the released hostages have been taken to a US military base for a medical examination and will then be flown back to Korea.  The Taliban probably killed the pastor to show they were serious to up the ante to get Seoul to pay the money.  More details should come out over the course of the day. 

You can read more over at Lost Nomad &  Michelle Malkin as well. 

Prior postings on this here, here, & here.

(Note: Prior posting and update here and here)

UPDATE: I highly recommend everyone read this posting from Michael Hurt.  As always he offers some good food for thought about the “Alms Race” in Korea.

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The latest on the Korean missionary kidnapping is that the Taliban are now offering to hand over 8 of the female hostages in return for 8 Taliban hostages.  After such a hand over talks for exchange of hostages for more prisoners would be initiated.  Afghan President Karzai has already ruled out a prisoner exchange and Korea has little to offer Karzai to change his mind thus making this option appear unlikely.

The next option to free the hostages would be to launch a rescue operation.  A rescue operation would be extraordinarily dangerous and likely lead to the deaths of some, if not all of the hostages.  Would the US forces be willing to conduct such an operation knowing the outcome might be messy and that the Korean government in turn could blame the US military for the deaths of the hostages to deflect blame from their own failings?  That is why if a rescue operation is to be launched it should be launched by a Korean special operations force not American.  Since the current Korean President has an aversion to military operations this option seem highly unlikely.  Any American rescue operation at least in the near term seems very unlikely as well.

Since a prisoner exchange and hostage rescue operation are both unlikely, than paying a ransom appears to be the most likely avenue that Korean negotiators will go next.  The kidnappers are already demanding $100,000 just to allow the Korean negotiators to speak to the hostages.  If that is the price just to speak to the hostages, you can imagine what the ultimate price for their release will be, probably in the tens of millions of dollars.   Paying the ransom would probably have a chilling effect on the relationship between the Korean and Afghan governments because the money would do wonders to finance Taliban operations that would undoubtedly lead to more kidnappings and the deaths of even more Afghans and coalition soldiers in Afghanistan.  The Korean government probably would be willing to risk this relationship in order to pay the ransom and free the hostages; after all this is the same government that finances an even worse gangster operation in North Korea to a tune of over $1 billion a year, so what’s a few million to the Taliban?

With the likelihood of this issue being protracted and possibly even messy the leftist political parties and press in Korea have already began to create a narrative that this crisis is all America’s fault.  Yes, the fact that ruthless, religious fanatics kidnapped 23 Koreans that were devoid of any common sense, and that their own government allowed them to travel to Afghanistan is now all some how America’s fault:

The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush has, until now, remained silent, despite the ongoing hostage crisis involving 23 South Koreans who are being threatened with death by their Taliban captors in Afghanistan. The U.S. government’s leading role in the war on terrorism and its decisive influence on the release of Taliban prisoners, one of the key demands of the current captors, has increasingly brought attention to the meaning behind the silence. Though the U.S. Department of State has finally commented on the recent events in Afghanistan, the timing of the comments still leaves many unanswered questions about what role the U.S. government will take.
[…]
As an allied nation, it may be difficult for the United States to intervene in negotiations between South Korea and the kidnappers. However, if this is the case, anti-American sentiment may rapidly spread throughout the nations with which it is allied.

Note the term “decisive influence” in the above citation.  In other words if the captives are not released it is America’s fault for not using it’s “decisive influence” to make the Afghan government release Taliban killers that would go on to kill, rob, and rape more Afghan civilians just to release the Korean missionaries.  It isn’t just the leftist media creating this current narrative in Korea either, the Democratic Labor Party is echoing the same sentiment:

Appearing on CBS, Democratic Labor Party lawmaker Roh Hoe-chan expanded on yesterday’s Hankyoreh Shinmun’s theme, saying, “Because the United States hopes Korean troops will remain in Afghanistan and has wanted Korea to even send combat troops, it won’t say anything about the hostage situation.” He also said another reason why the United States was keeping silent was that if Washington told Seoul not to accept the Taliban’s demands, it could be read as meaning the United States thought it would be good even if the hostages died, and if it told Seoul to accept the demands, it could cause problems for the US occupation policy in Afghanistan.

Make sure to read the rest here.  So who is the Democratic Labor Party?  Well just the same guys that were linked to a Ilshimhoe North Korean spy scandal last year.  The fact they are exploiting this hostage crisis to further the anti-American aims of their North Korean puppet masters is not surprising, neither is the fact the leftist Hankyoreh newspaper is maneuvering to do the same thing.  What will be interesting is if Korean President Roh Moo-hyun will use the anti-Americanism angle to pressure the United States to in turn force President Karzai to release the Taliban prisoners.

United States Forces Korea (USFK) is in the midst of a major force transformation on the peninsula and the Korean government has already done many thing to stop it by allowing anti-American activists to attack soldiers, trespass on USFK land, and wage almost Braveheart like battles against authorities.

Additionally the Korean government has cut agreed upon funding to USFK and refuses to pay their fair share of alliance costs while sending over a billion dollars to North Korea this year.  After much delays and ultimatums from USFK leaders the Korean government finally agreed to the transformation plans, but at a much delayed schedule.

President Roh could quickly unleash the anti-US activists once again on USFK in order to delay the transformation which has finally picked up momentum after all the drama surrounding it over the last two years.  Would he do it?  Who knows, but remember this is the guy that was elected on an anti-American platform and with the Presidential election coming up this year the leftist political parties may see this hostage crisis as an opportunity to ratchet up anti-US sentiment for domestic political reasons.

Over in the US, the hostage crisis is getting little media attention and Michelle Malkin wonders why?  She makes an excellent point that if these were journalists or drunken celebrities taken hostage it would make more headlines.  I have a better example, how about 23 gays taken hostage?  That would be non-stop headlines.  She speculates that the fact that these are Christian missionaries has caused the MSM to shy away from this issue.  That and the fact they are Koreans and not Americans is probably why the hostage crisis has garnered little US media attention. If it was 23 American Christian missionaries I don’ think the MSM could ignore that.

Anyway these missionaries shouldn’t be bashed for their beliefs as some have been doing, but I think they are fair game to be criticized for their actions for riding on a new bus on the highway between Kabul and Kandahar with no security or notifying the local Afghan government.  Stupidity should not be a death penalty and I hope this turns out alright for them, but right now all the options are either bad or worse.

Plenty of developments in the kidnapping of 23 Korean missionaries in Afghanistan.  The Taliban kidnappers are demanding a withdrawal of Korean troops and the release of 23 Taliban prisoners for the safe return of the Korean captives by 11:30PM Korean time today.  The Afghan government has already said they will not release the Taliban prisoners and claim to have begun a military operation that has surrounded the location of the Taliban kidnappers.  A false report by the AFP which is still up on the Donga Ilbo site claimed a rescue operation had been launched which has since been denied. 

Korean negotiators have made contact with the kidnappers and are reportedly working out a deal.  A doubt the Koreans will do an early withdrawal of Korean forces from Afghanistan and the release of Taliban prisoners seems unlikely.  So the only alternative negotiating tool the Korean government has is to bribe them with cold hard cash.  This is nothing new because the Germans and Italians have paid off the Taliban before as well much to the dismay of the Afghan government. 

The families of the missionaries have been all over the news crying and saying the Korean government should meet the Taliban’s demands.  Other have said that they are angered by the reaction of Koreans towards the captives:

The families of the hostages said they were angry about the cold reaction they’d gotten from fellow citizens. They said it was unfair they were viewed as extreme Christians who went on a forbidden mission trip. In reality, they said, the group was mostly students doing volunteer work.

I can think of plenty of good volunteer work they could have done right there in Korea.  These 23 Koreans are extremely foolish and are putting their government, the Afghan government, and US forces in a difficult position because of their actions.  Judging by this below picture it appears these people looked more like they were about to go on a scouting trip instead of heading to war torn Afghanistan:

They had a picture of the bus they were traveling in on the news and it looked like any bus you would see in Korea.  Traveling on a bus like that just makes them stand out even more as foreigners and foreigners mean money to Taliban and criminal gangs.  Something to remember is that many of the so called Taliban are actually criminal gangs out to make a buck and use the mujahadeen label as a cover for their criminal activities.  It is the same thing in Iraq.  For these people’s sake they best hope they have been kidnapped by a criminal gang instead of hard core Al Qaida/Taliban, who are willing to be bought off, because if not the alternatives are not good for them.