YONHAP NEWS

(5th LD) Twelve S. Korean hostages freed in Afghanistan, seven still in captivity

By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, Aug. 29 (Yonhap) -- The Taliban freed 12 South Koreans seized last month in Afghanistan on Wednesday, one day after the militant group agreed to release all 19 South Korean captives in exchange for the withdrawal of South Korea's 200-member reconstruction units from the wa-torn country by the year's end.

   The hostages were released in separate groups of three, five and four, in that order, according to the Foreign Ministry.

   The other seven remain in captivity, but ministry officials said they should be freed in the next few days.

   Twenty-three South Koreans were originally kidnapped on July 19 while traveling unescorted from the Afghan capital, Kabul, to the southeastern city of Kandahar, where they were to provide free medical services.

   Two male hostages, including Bae Hyung-kyu, the 42-year-old leader of the Seoul church's aid mission, were shot to death last month, and two female hostages were released earlier in the month. The released hostages, Kim Kyung-ja, 37, and Kim Gina, have returned to South Korea and are undergoing treatment at a heavily guarded medical center for the country's armed forces.

   The first group of three female hostages -- Ahn Hye-jin, 31, Lee Jeung-ran, 33, and 34-year-old Han Ji-young -- was released around 5 p.m. (Korea Standard Time), followed some three hours later by a group of five others, which included 27-year-old Ko Se-hoon, the first male hostage to be freed, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Hee-yong.

   The second group included Lee Sun-young, 37, Lyu Jung-hwa, 39, and Lee Sun-young and Lee Ji-young, whose ages were not immediately available.

   The last group of four included another male hostage, Lyu Kyung-sik, 55, according to the Foreign Ministry spokesman. The others are 29-year-old Seo Myung-hwa, 31-year-old Cha Hye-jin and Lee Ju-yeon, 27.

   "We are informed that there are no specific problems with their health," Cho told a press briefing shortly after the first group of three was released.

   He later said the other nine also were unharmed.

   Seven other South Koreans, including three males, are still being held in Afghanistan's Ghazni province, where the South Koreans were kidnapped.

   "The government will continue to work for the safe release of the remaining hostages," Cho said at an earlier press briefing.

   The release of the hostages followed Tuesday's agreement, made at a face-to-face meeting between South Korean negotiators and Taliban representatives in Ghazni province.

   The released hostages are expected to be taken for a medical check-up to the Afghan capital, Kabul, or Bagram, north of Kabul, where South Korea's 200-member reconstruction unit is stationed.

   Seoul earlier said that the hostages would remain in a safe area until all are released, but officials later said that they could be first flown back to South Korea if the release of the other hostages takes longer than a few days.

   Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Taliban, on Tuesday said the release of all the hostages would take some time, but no more than five days.

   The released hostages were first handed over to tribal leaders from Ghazni province, who then dropped them off with officials from the Afghan Red Crescent Society, according to ministry officials.

   The dramatic release of the hostages, over 40 days after they were seized, came after Taliban rebels dropped their earlier demand that the South Koreans be traded for the same number of Taliban combatants in Afghan jails.

   Seoul, instead, has promised to pull its troops out of the war-torn country before the end of the year, as well as prohibit any South Korean Christian missionaries from entering the country, Cheon Ho-seon, a spokesman for the presidential office, said in a press briefing late Tuesday.

   A Taliban representative at Tuesday's meeting also said the South Korean government has agreed to withdraw all South Korean activists and volunteer workers from the Central Asian nation before the end of August, a measure Seoul already undertook at the beginning of the year by prohibiting any unauthorized visits to Afghanistan.

   bdk@yna.co.kr
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