'The hostages are alive,' said Mr Khowja Seddiqi, district chief of Qarabagh in Ghazni province, where the 23 Christian volunteers were abducted nearly two weeks ago by the Taleban.

Meanwhile, Afghan army helicopters dropped leaflets in Ghazni province to warn people of an upcoming military operation in the area.

The leaflets did not say when or where the operation would be launched.

But the military said the mission was weeks away and was not connected to the hostages.

News of the potential military mission sparked tension and confusion as media reports claimed a rescue attempt had been launched.

However, the military denied the reports.

Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a purported Taleban spokesman, also said after the noon deadline passed that the remaining 21 hostages were still alive.

The militants still wanted officials to meet their key demand - the release of Taleban prisoners in exchange for the lives of the Koreans. Ahmadi said that two of the female hostages were very sick and could die from illness.

He had said earlier that eight prisoners had to be released by noon or more hostages would die.

Two of the hostages have already died at the hands of the militants.

According to media reports yesterday, which quoted the local governor of Ghazni province, South Korean ambassador Kang Sung Zu has been given permission by the Taleban militants for a face-to-face meeting with the captors.

In Kabul yesterday, Mr Kang appealed to the Afghan people and government in a television broadcast for help in trying to free the hostages.

He read from a statement which said the hostages had come to Afghanistan 'with the sheer purpose of helping Afghan people in need'.

The 'act of holding women hostage and threatening their lives clearly runs counter to the Afghan tradition of respect for women', the statement said.

A day before seizing the South Koreans, the Taleban abducted two German aid workers and five Afghan colleagues in Wardak province, south-west of Kabul.

One German was found shot dead, and one of the Afghans managed to escape.

The other German and four Afghans were still being held.

The Taleban have demanded Germany pull its 3,000 soldiers out of Afghanistan as the main condition for freeing the other German.

But German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said Berlin would not give in to the kidnappers' demands.

ASSOCIATED PRESS, REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE