Second Korean hostage found dead

A second South Korean hostage has been killed by the Taleban in central Afghanistan, local police say. They said the bullet-riddled body of the man was found at the side of the road in the village of Arizo Kalley, in Ghazni province.

The Taleban seized 23 Korean Christian aid workers, most of them women, on 19 July and shot dead their leader - a male pastor - last Wednesday.

A reporter for the Associated Press news agency at the scene said the victim appeared to be in his late 20s or early 30s and was found wearing white trousers and flip-flops.

A man claiming to speak on behalf of the Taleban said the militants had killed the Korean hostage on Monday evening because the Afghan government had refused its demands to release jailed rebels.

The BBC's Alistair Leithead in Afghanistan says the latest killing raises the stakes, piling pressure on Afghan President Hamid Karzai to save the remaining 21 captives.

The hostage video broadcast by al-Jazeera on Monday showed about seven women wearing headscarves with what appeared to be Taleban militants in the background.

I agree with your sentiments. The SK expat I talked to is a young woman and quite a pacifist. But apparently she was correct about SK withdrawing its, uh, “forces” (all 210 of them) from Afghanistan. I just found the following article:

ROK to withdraw troops from Afghanistan as scheduled
www.chinaview.cn 2007-07-21 10:49:37

SEOUL, July 21 (Xinhua) — South Korea will withdraw its troops in Afghanistan by the end of this year as scheduled, South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon said Saturday.

“The withdrawal will be conducted as scheduled,” said Song at a press briefing held at the Foreign Ministry.

The government has informed the National Assembly last year that the South Korean troops in Afghanistan will complete their missions and withdraw from Afghanistan by the end this year, he said, adding that the preparation for the withdrawal is underway.

According to Song, a total of 23 South Koreans were abducted by Afghan militants Thursday afternoon 150 km southwest of the capital city of Kabul.

A spokesman of the Taliban said earlier that they kidnapped 18 South Koreans. It was reported that Taliban threatens to kill the abducted if South Korean troops are not pulled out from the country.

South Korea has not “officially” received the Taliban demand, Song told reporters. However, he said the kidnapped South Koreans were believed to be safe as he wasn’t given any report specifically indicating they were harmed.

The South Korean government has tried to get information about the whereabouts of the kidnapped South Korean citizens, he added.

The South Korean government is seeking cooperation with the Afghani government and will send a delegation to Afghanistan on Saturday to deal with the incident, Song said.

According to the Foreign Ministry, most of the abducted were members of Saemmul Church in Seongnam, south of Seoul, and they entered Afghanistan on July 13 for volunteer work.

Following the kidnapping, the South Korean government decided on Saturday to ban South Koreans to travel to Afghanistan.

The 210-strong South Korean troops, mainly army engineers and medics, are now stationed in Afghanistan for non-combat reconstruction missions as part of U.S.-led coalition forces.

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