NIS chief Kim Man-bok testified in the National Assembly, in regards to the recent hostage negotiations. During the testimony, he opposed the current government policy of charging the Saemmul Church and the hostages for the cost of their release, saying that there is no legal basis.
As for the ransom issue;
Meanwhile, Kim said he could not clarify whether a ransom was given to the Taliban for the release of the hostages.
Kim said he couldn’t reveal anything about the issue because of promises made to the militants.
The spy chief led negotiations with the Taliban who kidnapped 23 Koreans on July 19 and freed the last hostage on Aug. 30.
Kim said it was not appropriate for the committee to ask if the Korean government gave money for the hostages’ release and asked them to forget about it. He said he would tell the truth the when time was ripe in the future.
Asked if he couldn’t comment because the negotiations were not finished, he answered yes. He said he would assume any legal responsibility if he had used state funds for any ransom.
I guess that’s as close as the current government will come to admitting that something was exchanged in return for the release of the 21. The truth will come out after Roh leaves office, and it will be interesting to see what and how much was involved.
Or it may be that the Taliban got what it has been demanding since the beggining of the crisis;
“It is possible that the hostages were released in return for the release of the Taliban fighters imprisoned in Afghanistan,” a lawmaker of the committee, was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency in Seoul. “Some time after the Taliban set free the hostages, the Afghan government may release Taliban prisoners.”
The Taliban had repeatedly demanded that the Kabul government set free its prisoners in return for the freedom of the hostages, but suddenly let the hostages go.
The legislator said the Afghan government might have agreed with the Taliban to free the prisoners by pardon at the request of the Korean negotiators.
As for why the NIS led the negotiations;
“If the ministry led the negotiations, it would look as if the government negotiated with terrorists,” he said. “That is against the rules of the international community.”
Right, so the NIS is not part of the ROK government? When did that happen? And when did anyone in the Korean government gave a damn about “the rules of the international community?”
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Is this guy serious?!
“Kim said he couldn’t reveal anything about the issue because of promises made to the militants.”
Well I guess everyone knows where his loyalties lie. HINT: not the Korean people.
“Kim said it was not appropriate for the committee to ask if the Korean government gave money for the hostages’ release and asked them to forget about it.”
Not appropriate? Is this guy for real?! I’d love to see a video of this. $20 Million says he’s waving his hand in the air trying some Jedi mind trick.
At least he’s not flat out lying and saying, “I don’t recall.” He recalls all right, and it went so bad that he’s not gonna tell us about it. The heat he’ll take for saying he’s not gonna talk about it, that he’ll take legal responsibility is a calculated risk, and he thinks he’ll get off easier that way then coming clean. He must have done some bad stuff, and knows it all too well.
China has a problem with killing too many people using the death penalty. But the world was really shocked when they used it as punishment for the man in charge of the safety of products when he was found to be corrupt. Maybe China is on to something with this execution of corrupt politicians thing. I can think of some good candidates.
Yes, you would not want to break your promises to murderers and kidnappers, would you?
Why is this character even opening his mouth?
“Kim said it was not appropriate for the committee to ask if the Korean government gave money for the hostages’ release and asked them to forget about it. He said he would tell the truth the when time was ripe in the future.”
Hmm. Methinks this is an admission of guilt, especially the bit about asking the committee to ‘forget about it’. I hope that they DON’T just forget about it.
I have it on pretty good authority that the KCIA took over because the Army would not give protection to MOFAT. MOFAt requested guards and the Military said no. While they were bickering, the KCIA stepped in and “stole the show”.
this is a very intriguing political development. A liberal Korean branch has decided that a mere terrorist/criminal organization should be treated with as much legitimacy as a state government.
This is following in the traditions of other liberal countries such as Spain, Italy, Canada, and France.
there is much deserved criticism that South Korea has failed its major ally, the US.
But, I think South Korea as a whole is still a legitmate US ally and shares common interests with the US.
Take a look at this BBC poll.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media.....15;300.gif
Mexico is amazingly ungrateful and resentful towards the United States. If Canada was in the survey as well, the Canadians would also prove themselves to be so. Both have economies that will crash without a healthy US one.
Talking about betrayal, how about the French, Canada, and many others refusing to join arms with the US in the Vietnam War, the Iraq War, and so on?
I mean, who freed France? What kind of ally shields AWOL soldiers of an ally?
See, South Korea is still a better ally than Spain, France, or Canada, yet it only gets poo poo.
1. No, it isn’t.
2. What “poo poo”? Like those great allies, Koreans, flinging shit on U.S. beef? Who needs you, really?
6. According the Ann Coulter, Canada did send troops to Vietnam.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84EjWeTMBZs
It seems that the Roh Administration is also quietly sitting on the Myanmar deal where Daewoo and Doosan companies gave arms manufacturing technology to Myanmar. People were arrested last December but there has been not a peep.
These guys are really making Bush look good, in comparison.
wjk,
Opinion polls are meaningless in this case. It is what the governments of these countries do and don’t do in their dealings with terrorists that counts. (Isn’t that the issue at hand?)
The South Korean government may have paid off the Taliban and appears willing to refer to them with some measure of respect. Canada, on the other hand - and along with its friends/allies - is in the process of trying to fight and kill the Taliban in Afghanistan. (As opposed to sitting around some guarded compound playing “go-stop”, making kimchi, or whatever the hell else Korean forces will soon have to stop doing when they “honor” their deal with the Taliban and fly home.)
The notion that Canada allowing the odd AWOL soldier - or, in the past, Vietnam draft dodgers that were later pardoned - makes it an inferior friend and ally to the US than South Korea is so silly it isn’t really worth commenting on.
#6,
What groups are you talking about? It’s not as if the Canadian government ever was as close to the Taliban as the American one was.
So, the Canadian economy would crash without a healthy American one? The opposite can also be said. Besides, nowadays the US is increasingly competing with China for Canada’s natural resources.
what a numbnut this guy is. one week of negotiations and he falls prey to stockholm syndrome.
Plus about $50 billion a year worth of the US military’s fighting power tied up here in Korea when America needs it elsewhere. In exchange for that commitment of US taxpayers’ treasure, and the blood of American soldiers, we get “Fucking USA” and the periodic love-in from this excellent ally of ours. That’s not “poo poo” — it’s bullshit.
This NIS clown is making his agency look about as incompetent as the CIA, something I didn’t think possible.
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