South Korea draws praise, criticism for hostage deal

SOUTH KOREA: The South Korean government won praise on Thursday for its part in securing the release of 19 hostages held in Afghanistan, but critics said Seoul may have set a dangerous precedent in directly negotiating with the Taliban. Taliban insurgents freed 12 of the 19 Korean Christian church volunteers it had held for nearly six weeks on Wednesday and may release more on Thursday.

If the remaining hostages are also released in the next day or so, all of them are likely to return to South Korea together on a commercial flight, South Korean officials said.

The Chosun Ilbo, South Korea's biggest daily and one of the leading critics of the President Roh Moo-hyun government, said in an editorial the administration should be commended for resolving the situation while minimising losses.

It cautioned, however: "For the first time ever, we had to negotiate directly with terrorist abductors. We cannot deny the fact that this precedent could possibly act as a burden on Korea's international image in the future". Other leading newspapers took a similar editorial line. Many countries say they do not negotiate with terrorists so as not to legitimise them and encourage them to commit provocative acts.

Seth Jones, a Middle East expert with the Rand Corporation, told U.S. broadcaster PBS: "It (the deal) strengthens the Taliban probably to some degree", adding it could increase the risk of kidnapping for other international aid workers in Afghanistan.

South Korea's presidential Blue House said that under the deal it struck with the Taliban, it has to withdraw its small contingent of non-combat troops in the country within the year and stop its nationals from doing missionary work in Afghanistan.

However, South Korea had already decided before the crisis to pull its 200 engineers and medical staff out of Afghanistan by the end of 2007. Since the hostages were taken it has banned its nationals from travelling there.

A spokesman for South Korea's president, Chon Ho-seon, was evasive in responding to questions at a news briefing in Seoul on Wednesday on whether a ransom was part of the deal, saying only South Korea had done what was needed.

The insurgents seized 23 Korean Christian volunteers on July 19 from a bus in Ghazni province and initially demanded the release of Taliban members held prisoner by the Afghan government. It killed two hostages, and then released another two earlier in what it said was a goodwill gesture.

Prior to the kidnapping, South Korean warned its citizens not to travel to Afghanistan and blocked many of its growing legion of evangelical Christians from going there due to safety concerns.

Seoul, Thursday, Reuters