About the current hostage incident in South Korea

The fundamental reason why the hostage incident is difficult to solve is that it is difficult for both sides to reach an agreement on releasing Taliban prisoners. The Taliban has been asking the Afghan government to release the detained Taliban prisoners in exchange for the freedom of the North Korean hostages, and submitted a list of eight Taliban prisoners to the Afghan government, asking the Afghan government to exchange these eight prisoners for eight hostages first, and then exchange other hostages and prisoners in batches. However, the Afghan government was so worried about this that it did not publicly agree. In March this year, an Italian journalist was kidnapped by Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan. Under the mediation of the Italian government, the Afghan government released five important Taliban prisoners, and the hostages were also released. This exchange has been severely criticized by some European and American countries with great influence in Afghanistan, believing that it will encourage the kidnapping of the Taliban. After this incident, Afghan President Hamid Karzai made it clear that he would never release any Taliban prisoners. During the hostage crisis in South Korea, Afghan officials also publicly stated several times that they did not intend to release Taliban prisoners. At present, the Afghan government is trying to persuade the Taliban to release hostages, especially 18 female hostages, through local influential religious figures and tribal elders, because "kidnapping women is against Islamic teachings and Afghan culture". In this hostage incident, Taliban forces have postponed the deadline for the execution of hostages six times. Afghan media analysis said that the Taliban may not want to execute hostages, but want to reach an agreement with the Afghan government and the South Korean government through negotiations to meet some of their demands. In addition, dozens of Taliban militants who have taken hostages are still surrounded by Afghan government forces and US troops stationed in Afghanistan. If they kill the hostages, they will definitely face the fate of total annihilation. The Taliban may also have concerns about this. Taliban forces kidnapped 23 Koreans in Ghazni province in central Afghanistan on June 5438+09, 2009, and killed a male hostage on the 25th. Now the safety of the other 22 hostages affects many people's hearts. According to the Taliban, most of the hostages are in very bad physical condition, and some people have psychological problems, especially female hostages. Albanian Deputy Interior Minister Maingard, who participated in the talks, said on 28th that the possibility of solving the hostage problem by force was not ruled out. As soon as this statement came out, the Taliban immediately responded, saying that if the Afghan government used force, the hostages would die. Taliban spokesman Ahmadi declared on the 29th that there is no need for the Taliban to negotiate with the Afghan government, and releasing Taliban prisoners is the only way to solve the problem. According to the latest news, although the negotiations are deadlocked, they have not been terminated.

This is an overseas kidnapping incident with the largest number of Koreans in recent years. The Taliban spokesman's statement that "if the troops are not withdrawn from Afghanistan immediately, the hostages will be killed" shocked South Korea. Faced with the threat, the families of the abductees issued a tearful statement, calling on the government to try its best to rescue the hostages, and some groups opposed to sending troops to Afghanistan also took the opportunity to put pressure on them. However, at that time, the Korean government did not establish a dialogue channel with the kidnappers, nor could it confirm the true intention of kidnapping. At the critical moment, Roh Moo-hyun decisively ordered: "Invite CNN reporters immediately!" On the afternoon of July 2 1, Roh Moo-hyun appeared in front of CNN with a dignified expression and conveyed the position of the South Korean government to the militants at the first time. Roh Moo-hyun said that the South Korean government is prepared to take "sincere actions", including close cooperation with all parties including the Afghan government, to strive for the safe release of hostages as soon as possible. At the same time, he did not forget to emphasize that the kidnapped Koreans are volunteers engaged in medical services in Afghanistan, and it is inappropriate for kidnappers to hurt these innocent civilians for any reason. Shortly after the South Korean President broadcast the "Appeal" on CNN, Taliban spokesman Ahmadi called the reporter of the International Herald Tribune from an unknown location, saying that the deadline for killing hostages had been extended by 24 hours. After the kidnapping incident was confirmed, the South Korean government set up an emergency response team to mobilize various government departments to study countermeasures and strive to achieve the safe release of hostages through negotiations through diplomatic efforts. On July 22, the hostage incident handling team led by Zhao Chongyong, the first official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of South Korea, flew to Kabul urgently. They met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and other senior Afghan officials to discuss rescue measures. Several officials of the Korean Embassy in Afghanistan have also rushed to Ghazni province to actively negotiate with Taliban forces through local tribal elders. In response to the Taliban's demand for withdrawal, on July 2 1 day, South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Song Minchun not only indicated South Korea's willingness to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, but also stressed that withdrawal was not as simple as "packing up and leaving". At the same time, the South Korean government also turned to Ban Ki-moon, former South Korean foreign minister and current UN Secretary-General, for help. Ban Ki-moon 2 1 telephoned Afghan President Hamid Karzai and called on the Afghan government to make every effort to ensure the release of the hostages as soon as possible. The Taliban claimed that 23 South Korean hostages had been divided into several groups and taken care of by militants. If Afghan military police and multinational forces in Afghanistan try to rescue hostages by force, it will have "disastrous consequences". Therefore, on July 23, the South Korean Ministry of National Defense specially invited Al Jazeera reporters to interview the Ministry of National Defense, saying that there was no armed rescue plan. In 2004, Kim Sun-il, a North Korean in Iraq, was kidnapped and beheaded by militants, which caused the Korean people to question the government's diplomatic ability. In this incident, the South Korean government clearly learned the lesson and informed the public of the progress of the incident at any time, which was recognized by the public. On the evening of July 24th, an Afghan local tribal elder who participated in the negotiations confirmed to the International Herald Tribune that the Taliban did not execute the hostages when the deadline of July 24th came. The Taliban put forward a list of eight Taliban prisoners and asked the Afghan government to release the eight prisoners in exchange for eight Korean hostages before continuing the negotiations. In previous negotiations, the Taliban extended the deadline three times in a row. Because the kidnapping problem has not been solved for a long time, the families of the kidnapped people, the public and the media have become restless. On July 24th, Qian Haoxuan, a spokesman for the South Korean Cheongwadae, made a special appeal, hoping that Korean netizens would be tolerant of the kidnapping and the abductees and not put pressure on the families of the abductees. On the same day, Roh Moo-hyun also called on all the people to "remain calm and calmly respond". On July 25, a South Korean male hostage was "executed" by the Taliban because the two sides failed to reach an agreement on exchanging prisoners as hostages during the negotiations. According to South Korean media reports, 8 of the 23 hostages have been released. The prospect of South Korea's release of hostages is even more confusing. The Taliban spokesman is the mouthpiece of the Taliban's external propaganda. When they release "major" or "exclusive" news to the outside world, they often put some smoke bombs. Yu Zhixiao and Zhang Haibo, reporters of International Herald Tribune, are from Afghan media circles. No one has seen their "true colors", but they are familiar with their voices. "When the deadline came tonight, we didn't execute the hostages, but asked to exchange eight Taliban prisoners for eight Koreans first." On the evening of July 24th, Taliban spokesman Ahmadi called the International Herald Tribune from an unknown place, but the reporter could not remember his first call in several days. During the hostage crisis in South Korea, Ahmadi kept in close contact with major foreign media, including this newspaper, and the mainstream media in Afghanistan. "Twenty-three South Korean hostages have been kidnapped", "The Taliban will postpone the execution of hostages for 24 hours" and "The negotiations between the two sides are in danger of failure" ... At every key development stage of the whole incident, Taliban spokespersons often release the latest news to the world through the media at the first time. In fact, the Taliban has always attached great importance to propaganda and has two or three full-time spokespersons. One morning in September, 2006, the Tribune, a reporter of the International Herald Tribune, was awakened by a rush of telephone ringing. It's Taliban spokesman Ahmadi. "A suicide attacker just launched an attack outside the US military base in Bagram, 50 kilometers north of Kabul, causing casualties among American soldiers." After receiving this news, the reporter immediately called the US military spokesman Tamara for verification. Tamara replied, "There was a suicide attack outside that base, but we don't know the details yet." In the information age, with the rapid development of TV, Internet and other means of communication, the originally conservative Taliban also improved their communication methods "with the times" and launched a second war-"media war" with the Afghan government and international troops stationed in Afghanistan. Taliban spokesman is one of the important sources of news for journalists in Afghanistan. Most of the news that the Taliban made suicide bombings or ambushed foreign troops mentioned by the spokesman is true. However, we can't trust Taliban spokesmen completely, because they often "exaggerate" or even "make things out of nothing". For example, in a battle with American troops, the Taliban apparently wounded only three American troops, but its spokesman said that nine people were killed. In June this year, a Taliban spokesman called the reporter of the International Herald Tribune, saying that the Taliban shot down a foreign military helicopter and captured two foreign soldiers. As a result, the reporter verified that there was no such thing at all. A similar situation has made foreign journalists in Afghanistan realize that they must verify the relevant news with foreign troops in Afghanistan, otherwise they may issue "exclusive" fake news, which is ridiculous.

Afghanistan is an important anti-terrorism ally of the United States. At present, the Afghan government forces are cooperating with NATO forces and the US military to combat the remnants of the Taliban and members of Al Qaeda in the southern mountainous areas. It is not difficult to understand that the Afghan and American governments have been slow to take a stand on the South Korean hostage incident. Because it is the unshakable position of the Bush administration never to engage in any kind of transactions with terrorists. Under such circumstances, how can the Bush administration easily let the Afghan government negotiate seriously with the Taliban and reach an understanding? Second, since the beginning of this year, Taliban forces are making a comeback in southern Afghanistan. If 23 Taliban members are released this time, it will not only be tantamount to releasing the tiger to the mountain, but also make a mockery of the new anti-terrorism plan currently being implemented. Perhaps this is the reason why the Afghan government has been slow to make a decision. But this is related to the pressure exerted by the US government. This undoubtedly cast a shadow over the final way out for the hostages. South Korea's emergency response team, which has arrived in Afghanistan, is trying to contact armed groups through various channels. Under this circumstance, the news that Afghanistan will rescue the hostages by military action made the South Korean government feel unacceptable and expressed its clear opposition.