CONTRITE
'We apologise to the people for causing trouble and thank everyone who helped us return home safely. We owe the country our lives.'
MR LYU KYUNG SIK, spokesman for the 19 South Korean hostages who arrived home yesterday. Upon their arrival, the hostages bowed to the nation in a sign of apology. They have been taken to a hospital near Seoul where they will remain for the next two weeks for medical checks and counselling. -- PHOTO: AFP
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SEOUL - NINETEEN South Korean Christian medical aid workers held hostage by the Taleban in Afghanistan for six weeks arrived home with much contrition yesterday, thanking their government for saving their lives.
'We apologise to the people for causing trouble and thank everyone who helped us return home safely,' said their spokesman Lyu Kyung Sik.
'We owe the country our lives.'
Carrying portraits of their two colleagues executed by the Taleban, the 19 Koreans looked pale and exhausted as they faced television cameras upon their arrival at South Korea's Incheon airport.
While Mr Lyu spoke, standing between the framed pictures of his two slain team mates, some members fought back tears.
Taleban militants abducted the 16 women and seven men on July 19 from their bus in insurgency-plagued southern Afghanistan.
The militants executed the two men last month, before releasing two women on Aug 13 as a 'goodwill gesture'.
The remaining 19 hostages were finally freed last Wednesday and Thursday, after the South Korean government agreed in a deal with the militants to withdraw its 200 troops from Afghanistan by December and ban all Christian missionary activities in the Islamic country.
It was only after their release that they learnt of the death of their two colleagues.
Yesterday, the 19 Koreans were taken to a hospital near Seoul where they will remain for the next two weeks for medical checks and post-trauma counselling.
At the hospital, they were embraced by waiting family members. A few of the former hostages, overcome by emotion, fainted and had to be carried out of the room.
Mr Ryu Haeng Sik, the husband of one of the hostages, said: 'The kids (two daughters) love having their mother back.'
Mr Seo Jeung Bae was reunited with his released son and daughter.
'I was given back the two children I had lost. By holding them in my arms, I now know it's real,' the smiling father said.
A pastor from Saemmul Community Church, which organised the mission to Afghanistan, said yesterday that some of the hostages had been 'severely beaten'.
'Their ordeal was harder than anticipated as some hostages were severely beaten because they refused to convert (to Islam),' Pastor Park Eun Jo told reporters after holding services with the former captives at the hospital.
He added that some of the woman had been 'at risk of being sexually assaulted'.
Their ordeal is not over yet. The humble bows, sombre expressions and the carefully prepared statement given by the former hostages at the airport indicated an awareness of the criticism they are facing at home.
On top of an inquiry, the government is asking Saemmul Community Church and ex-hostages' families to pay for the medical and transportation expenses incurred.
The government had earlier issued an advisory asking its citizens to stay clear of Afghanistan. The Korean public is riled by the team's recklessness in ignoring the warning.
Netizens castigated them for moving about in the war-torn country unescorted in a conspicuous bus - an easy target for the Taleban.
'How much national resources have been spent on these 23 crazy people?' said one Internet posting.
The crisis has also put the Korean Christian community in a spot, with critics faulting them for their 'excessive evangelistic zeal'.
Many church groups have agreed to overhaul their missionary programmes to include security training. They have also pledged to work closely with the government in staying out of dangerous countries.
The international community has slammed the Seoul government for holding direct talks with the Taleban, saying that it sets a dangerous precedent by giving legitimacy to the militants and encouraging them to abduct even more foreigners.
In response, South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min Soon has said that the country had to 'balance international norms versus saving lives'.
When asked if a ransom was paid, he repeated the government's line that there was no such deal.
However, suspicions of a payout linger, especially after a Taleban commander told Reuters that Seoul gave them some US$20 million (S$30 million), which would be used to buy arms and mount more suicide attacks.
leeteejong@yahoo.com
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