Former IT worker Shim Sung-min is the second hostage to
be killed
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South Korea is reeling from the news that the second member of a
group of South Korean Christian aid workers, taken hostage in
Afghanistan, has been killed by the Taleban.
But readers have mixed views on how the government should handle the
crisis, and whether the 23-strong group should have been in Afghanistan
in the first place.
CHINSOL KIM, 32, CIVIL SERVANT, SEOUL
South Korean people are worried about the lives of the hostages. This
rarely happens to Korean people. A few years ago, when South Korean
hostage Kim Sun-il was beheaded in Iraq, the whole nation was united in
its sympathy.
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The government shouldn't satisfy the Taleban's
demands
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Now opinion is divided. There are many different views,
and many people are critical of the aid workers for ignoring a
government travel advisory and going to a very dangerous place.
The problem is that South Korea has no special way to negotiate with
the Taleban. It's very complicated.
On the one hand, we want our people to be released. But it's better
to give a ransom, rather than to release Taleban prisoners. If you
release prisoners, the situation will get worse.
Satisfying their demands is wrong. If you give something to
terrorists, they'll start asking for more. Taleban prisoners were
released recently in exchange for a kidnapped Italian journalist. The
Taleban have figured out that the tactic works, and look what happens.
Whether the government should take full responsibility and pay a
ransom to release the hostages has become a huge controversy in South
Korea.
I've been reading internet forums and there are many opponents of
negotiations insisting that the government should not give in to
terrorists, even if that means the loss of 22 people's lives.
MIRI PARK, 24, CHRISTIAN AID WORKER, SEOUL
The issue of our hostages is a hot potato in South Korea now. Everybody
is really shocked that a second hostage has been killed.
Many people, including me, feel so uneasy about this situation. But
unlike so many other people, I fully understand why they went there.
The group had been doing volunteer work in Afghanistan
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Many people blame them and I don't like it when everybody
considers this a problem of Christianity.
The problem is not that they are Christian, but that they were not
prepared for the reality of this country. Only aid workers who have been
trained by emergency relief experts should be allowed to go to difficult
countries like Afghanistan.
Regardless of this, we have to make every effort to save their lives.
As a Christian I think that it's our obligation to help people. So I
don't think aid workers should stop doing their work in other countries.
I myself plan to do volunteer work in the Middle East and South Asia.
But I always have and will respect other people's religion. Prior to
being Christian, we are human beings, we have different backgrounds and
experiences.
RO JUNG-YUN, 38, SOFTWARE PROGRAMMER, BUSAN
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The government can't do anything. Nothing is within
their power
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There are many opinions right now in South Korea.
There are people, myself included, who would like the government to
send more troops to Afghanistan to take revenge for taking our
compatriots hostages. But only after their release.
We should have our own military operation, which will be different
from what existing South Korean troops are doing there at the moment. We
should send 6-7,000 troops to take revenge for this attack.
I do realise though that this wish is unrealistic. There are
presidential elections later in the year and there are different things
on the agenda.
Right now though, our government can't do anything. Nothing is within
their power. They can only pretend that they are trying to secure the
release of the hostages. It's a foreign country, it's not even up to the
Afghan government to decide. How do you make the Taleban do as you say?
South Korea has no option but to try and persuade Taleban supporters
in and outside Afghanistan to exert their influence on the
hostage-takers.
JAE-WOONG JEON, 31, STUDENT, SEOUL
I expected this to happen, but still, it is shocking. It is possible
that the Taleban will kill the hostages one by one, until their demands
are met.
Actually people are not that interested in this story here. Yes,
there's shock, but it's not as overwhelming as a few years ago when our
compatriot was beheaded in Iraq. That was really shocking, especially
because everyone viewed the execution video on the internet.
But now, people just get on with their lives. Presidential elections
are coming and there are other things the media likes to concentrate on.
I think that Taleban prisoners should be exchanged in return for the
release of the hostages - they are human beings and their lives are
precious.
One thing that should be out of the question though is military
action. Our government said that they are not considering it, but the
fact that they are saying it means that there was talk about it.
The release of prisoners is the only option, otherwise the killings
will continue.
SOO HYUN LEE, 27, STUDENT, SEOUL
There are two kinds of reaction to this story in Korea. Some people
think that the government should do anything to secure their release.
But there are those who think that the hostages have asked for
trouble themselves by going to a place like Afghanistan. They were
advised against travelling there, yet they went with the full knowledge
of what they are getting themselves into. So some people ask: Why should
we care?
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This shouldn't happen again. Aid workers should be
very careful from now on
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I personally think that it's the government's duty to try
to secure their release. But negotiations with the Taleban won't be
successful.
The more we negotiate with them, the more demands they are going to
come up with. Their demands are not good for world peace. If they get
money - they are going to use it for bad purposes.
I don't know what will happen to these people. But the important
thing is that this doesn't happen again. Christian aid workers should be
very careful where they go and how they conduct their business in Muslim
countries.