S. Korean hostages held in Afghanistan

[AlethiaSi]

I know this story is spanning over a few days, but the situation is getting worse and I haven't heard too many major news stories about it except for on NPR...

(CNN) -- The families of the remaining 21 South Korean hostages being held in central Afghanistan say they have all but lost hope for the survival of their loved ones after a second hostage's body was recovered.

The group of South Koreans was kidnapped in Ghazni province on July 19.









The bullet-riddled body of Shim Sung-min was found Tuesday in the Chahor Devor area of the Ghazni province, the same province where the 23 South Koreans were kidnapped from their bus on July 19, according to an Afghan Interior Ministry official.
"We still hold the same faith but after the death of Pastor Bae and Shim Sung-min, the families are in greater pain," the families said in a joint statement read on Korean TV by the mother of Lee Sun-young, a 37-year-old woman held by the Afghan captors.
"It's almost impossible to have hope for the remaining 21 hostages. Which parents can sit still when their child is dying before their eyes?"
Bae Hyung-Kyu, 42, a pastor at the church attended by the hostages and the leader of their group, was shot and killed last week. His body was found Wednesday in Ghazni's Qara Bagh district with 10 bullet wounds, Ghazni's provincial police chief said.
The South Koreans are members of a church group and came to Afghanistan to perform volunteer medical aid.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told CNN that Shim was killed Monday, hours after Taliban leaders had threatened to kill more hostages if Afghan leaders did not give in to their demands to release rebel prisoners.
In their statement, the families pleaded with the United States "to be more actively involved" and get more countries to cooperate in the negotiations to free the hostages.
"The Korean government awhile ago announced there's a limit and (there) are things that can't be solved," they said in the statement. "But we still believe in the government and that it's doing the best to protect its people."
They expressed "worry" about reports that negotiators are considering trying to free the hostages through force.
"Please don't use force. Please save them through peaceful and humanitarian ways. Please help."
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, in a telephone interview with CNN Monday, said that hostage Shim had been killed Monday.





The announcement came hours after Taliban leaders had threatened to kill more of the 22 Korean hostages they have been holding if Afghan leaders did not give in to their demands to release rebel prisoners.
The Afghan government has ruled out a prisoner swap and has urged the Taliban to release the women being held.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapc...age/index.html