Gov’t Working to Free Hostages from Afghanistan Militants

The government is still working busily to free 23 Koreans four days after Afghan militants took them hostage.

Government organizations including Cheong Wa Dae, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Ministry of Defense, and the National Intelligence Service set up a 24-hour emergency work system to react to new developments as they take place in Afghanistan.

Most noticeable of the efforts were President Roh Moo-hyun’s message to the militants delivered in person around Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The message was delivered just two hours before the Saturday 4:30 p.m. deadline set by the militants. The militants had said that they would kill the hostages if the Korean armed forces do not evacuate from Afghanistan. President Roh said during a conference that the militants must quickly and safely return the hostages, and that no one should be hurt. He also said that the Korean government is prepared to do work hard with the people related to free the hostages.

Three defense policy meetings held-

Baek Jong-cheon, National Security Advisor to President Roh Moo-hyun, presided over a defense policy meeting, in which minister-level officials took part, to check on the situation in Afghanistan on Sunday. This was the third defense policy meeting after two on the day before.

This many meetings were held because the militants had changed their demands from the evacuation of the Korean armed forces to exchanging the hostages with Taliban prisoners that was paired with a deadline. The militants had threatened to kill the hostages if the government did not meet the deadline and the government had to react quickly.

The government sent an action team led by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Cho Jung-pyo to Kabul on Saturday. This team started working to save the hostages on Sunday and met with Afghanistan’s minister of foreign affairs.

The government is planning to relay what was discussed and decided in the defense policy meetings to send the action team in Kabul to aid to the team’s work.

President Roh in Action-

President Roh cancelled his plans in Chungnam Province and hurried back to Seoul when he got the news.

There have been many incidents of foreign militants capturing Korean hostages during this administration, most notably Kim Seon-il. This is, however, the first time the president delivered a message in person.

Some say that President Roh learned from the failed attempt to save Kim Seon-il in June, 2004, when he relied on the foreign affairs ministry’s positive outlook. “The situation is not clear cut. Risk is extremely high and everyone knows there cannot be another incidence of a botched attempt to rescue our countrymen,” said one government official.

President Roh’s message was broadcast all over the world via CNN.

Media war-

The government thinks that the militant group is very adept at using the media to serve their interests, such as sending confusing signals and messages.

This is why the government is analyzing Korean and foreign news articles after July 19. This is because the government thinks that the militants are sending out their demands through foreign press outlets such as the AP and Al Jazeera, while assessing the government’s movements through the Korean press.

Government officials were allegedly in panic when some Korean news articles alluded that Foreign Minister Song Min-soon spurned the militants’ demand of evacuating the Korean armed forces from Afghanistan.

“We felt things could not get worse when we heard that a German hostage had been killed after these news articles were released. We think we are over the most difficult part, because most news articles accurately reported the government’s stance on this issue,” said one government official.

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