Changeable Taliban

On July 20, the Taliban said that it wants the Korean army to withdrawal and the release of the same number of Taliban members currently in jail. However, after that, the Taliban changed its demands by adding to the number of members it wants released instead of requiring the Korean army’s withdrawal, which is scheduled at the end of this year.

On July 24, the group asked for money. Japan’s Kyoto Daily reported that according to the Afghanistan government’s representative, the Taliban asked for $100,000 from the Korean government for a phone call with the Korean hostages.

Making the best out if its kidnapping by heightening stress-

According to Mainichi Daily, after fighting a pitched battle with the U.S. Army on Monday morning, the Taliban changed its mind and asked for the release of five Taliban members per one Korean hostage.

On July 23, an official of the Afghanistan government said that the Taliban was constantly changing its requirements in their negotiations, which started the day before.

The reason the Taliban is constantly changing its requirements is because it wants the press the Korean government by creating a tense atmosphere.

It is possible that the Taliban is changing its requirements in order to fully take advantage of this opportunity as Korea, different from Germany, is actively engaging in the negotiations.

The Taliban succeeded in releasing five of its members after kidnapping an Italian reporter. This was possible because the Italian government pressed the Afghanistan government.

Confusion within the Taliban-

The Mainichi Daily said it is possible that the Taliban is changing its requirements often because the group does not have any experience in kidnapping many people at once. Therefore, there might have been some differences in opinion within the Taliban.

It is said that the Taliban is not familiar with a situation of kidnapping 23 people at once, and of 18 of them being women. Also, the group is confused by the fact that the hostages are civilians who came for volunteer work, not from any international organizations such as the UN or the army.

Some point out that the fact that the Korean army deployed to Afghanistan is not there for combat will be an important factor in the negotiations.

This is because even though the Taliban is an extreme militant group, it cannot ignore the public sentiment of their base.

The New China News Agency reported that on July 24, about 1,000 people living in Ghazni took to the streets for the release of the Korean hostages.

This shows that the people living in the region do not have any hostile feelings against the Korean hostages.

surreal@donga.com