Hostages: “Uh, We’re Sorry…”
Korea Times:
A day after the last hostages were let go, some of the church workers apologized for the trouble caused by their captivity, and a few collapsed when told the militants had slain two male colleagues. One said she secretly kept a diary on the lining of her pants.
The hostages expressed their sincere regret for the trouble they had caused the nation in a press conference in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.
“I’ve had sleepless nights, thinking of what we have caused the country. I am deeply sorry,” Yu Kyeong-sik, 55, said.
“We left Kabul for Kandahar on July 19, thinking it would be safe to depart in the afternoon. But our driver picked up two locals, who about 20 minutes later stopped the bus by firing guns,” Yu added.
The last of the seven hostages detained by the Taliban were freed on Thursday, following two male and 10 female South Koreans.
Nineteen Koreans freed by Taliban kidnappers are expected to return home Sunday, after a 43-day hostage ordeal in which two male hostages were killed. They will arrive amid questions about whether the Korean government paid the Taliban kidnappers a huge ransom.
The Christian aid group, consisting of 23 members, were originally seized while traveling through Ghazni province in central Afghanistan, but the Taliban killed two male hostages in late July and freed two female hostages in August after face-to-face negotiations with South Korean representatives.
A government official revealed the conditions for the hostage release included the withdrawal of its 200 engineering troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year, as well as imposing a ban on any unauthorized visits to the Central Asian nation, especially by Christian missionaries.
Presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-seon Tuesday denied rumors the South Korean government had paid large amounts in ransom. However, Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper on Friday reported Seoul paid $2 million to Taliban insurgents, quoting unidentified Afghan officials involved in the hostage negotiations. Also, the Arab television network Al Jazeera reported the South Korean government is believed to have paid as much as $40 million.
The government plans to claim compensation for expenses to release the hostages and bring them home, although it has not decided whether it will ask them to pay for the administrative costs involved. The church which sent the aid workers to the war-ravaged country has said it will cover transportation and medical checkup costs for the hostages.
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Maybe the SK’s should change the name of their country to Spain?
August 31st, 2007 at 7:16 pmYeah, I think they shd apologize for causing the Islamists to waste those bullets on them, and clean up the blood.
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August 31st, 2007 at 8:14 pmWhat happened to the proud ROK we once knew?
August 31st, 2007 at 9:06 pmShameful. $40 million will now go to bullets and bombs to kill more American troops and kidnap more foreigners. Shame on South Korea. If more innocents get kidnapped and executed, well…
September 1st, 2007 at 12:37 amI think they are going to apologize to North Korea next for not surrendering back in 1950.
September 1st, 2007 at 1:30 amah grasshopper..you cannot excape the fire of the dragon, by sticking your head up his ass..because sooner or later you will be shit on
September 1st, 2007 at 3:18 am“I’ve had sleepless nights, thinking of what we have caused the country. I am deeply sorry,” Yu Kyeong-sik, 55, said.
which country are you refering to? only korea? your government had no responsibility to negotiate with these fanatics. you were warned countless times not to go. by defying those orders you should have demanded your government not negotiate and give up your lives or try to escape.
September 3rd, 2007 at 11:30 pm