Meeting with a group of high-ranking Korean lawmakers visiting the United States, the Afghan ambassador to Washington asked Seoul to stop making public statements opposing the use of force. [YTN, Korean].
The ambassador said he fully understood Korea’s position, but it would be best if such statements weren’t made publicly.
The lawmakers, meanwhile, stressed to the ambassador [...]
Update: The title of the online version has been changed from Korea’s Christian Soldiers to Korea’s Christian Warriors. Perhaps someone complained about using the word ’soldier’ considering the context of the story.
Of course, the original title comes from the old English hymn Onward Christian soldiers. According to Wikipedia, the title of the hymn was derived from 2 [...]
According to the Foreign Ministry, some 40 Koreans have been murdered overseas this year through July [Munhwa Ilbo, Korean]. Some 13 of those victims were killed in China, eight in Japan, five in the Philippines, four in the United States, three in Vietnam, two in Afghanistan and one each in South Africa, Venezuela, Australian, Indonesia [...]
It seems like every political figure is jumping on the “Let’s pressure the US” bandwagon. The latest figure to weigh in is former Unification Minister Chung Dong Young.
According to Financial News, Mr. Chung has sent an open letter to Pres. George W. Bush via the US Embassy in Seoul.
Here is the English translation;
If the [...]
Reuters (via MoneyToday, Korean), quoting Afghan government officials, reports that military operations to rescue the remaining 21 Korean hostages have begun.
A Cheong Wa Dae official said the government is trying to confirm the report, and that Seoul has never agreed to a military operation. He noted that Seoul’s opposition to a military operation remains unchanged.
I [...]
I’m taking this with a grain of salt, but according to the Joongang-Ilbo, it seems like that some in the MND are quietly pushing and planning for the military option in Afghanistan. According to outside military experts the so called plan may involve two ROK Army Special Forces brigades, one ROKMC infantry regiment, and supporting troops to [...]
Cheong Wa Dae has issued a statement essentially begging the international community (read: the United States) to give in to the Taliban’s demands in order to save the remaining 21 Korean hostages being held in Afghanistan.
Given the nature of the statement, Cheong Wa Dae was quick to translate it, freeing me from the burden of [...]
Update 3 (1:35 p.m., Tue 31 July 2007 (Korea Time)): Associated Press (AP) is now reporting that a Korean hostage’s body has been found in a village some 8 or 9 kilometres southwest of Ghazni. Says the AP: “The victim, who appeared to be in his late 20s or early 30s, was wearing white [...]
A lot has been said regarding the hostage crisis, among them the irresponsibility of the 23 that went on the so called medical mission to Afghanistan. Now why would 23 men and mostly women decide to go on a mission which most of them, despite the somewhat insane pictures taken at the airport, knew [...]
OK, now I’ve heard everything — Al Jazeera (via YTN), quoting Taliban officials, is reporting that some of the hostages have gone on hunger strike to protest their detainment.
Al Jazeera said the Taliban have tried to force the striking hostages to eat, but they’re continuing to refuse.
I don’t mean to make light of the situation, [...]
Now even Yonhap is setting the United States up to take the blame if the hostages in Afghanistan get killed.
In an analysis report, Yonhap — citing experts — says Kabul is ignoring the Taliban’s demands because it doesn’t want to offend the West, including the United States and Great Britain.
It notes that more than 90% [...]
Here the news as I read it this morning:
The government says it cannot confirm media reports that the Taliban is ready to release eight female hostages in return for the release of eight Taliban hostages.
Freezone reports that the rumors floating around Saemmul Church, namely, the ones about the Foreign Ministry warning them over 20 times, [...]
Appearing on CBS, Democratic Labor Party lawmaker Roh Hoe-chan expanded on yesterday’s Hankyoreh Shinmun’s theme, saying, “Because the United States hopes Korean troops will remain in Afghanistan and has wanted Korea to even send combat troops, it won’t say anything about the hostage situation.” He also said another reason why the United States was keeping [...]
Here is some of the latest from the Korean hostage situation:
Korean government officials are apparently participating in the Afghan government committee handling the crisis [Yonhap News, Korean].
Local tribal elders have reportedly made progress in talks with the kidnappers [Newsis/AP, Korean].
The Taliban have extended the deadline for a trade by 24 hours to 1430 GMT. [BBC]
Yonhap [...]
Yonhap (Korean) reports that an unknown number of Koreans have been abducted off a bus in Ghazni province, Afghanistan.
Two Germans and six Afghans were abducted yesterday.
A later Yonhap report quotes a Korean government source as saying about 20 Koreans, apparently young folk doing — you guessed it — missionary work in Afghanistan were kidnapped.
UPDATE: The [...]
Nonghyup Bank bank is doing its part to ease the heartache of Korean soldiers stationed in Iraq. Apparently, Korean soldiers are experiencing the same thing the American soldier faced in Pusan in 1945, relationships breaking up because of distance and duty. Evidently many of them are receiving their “Dear Moon-young letters” via the internet.
Gil Yoon-jung, an official [...]
OK, now even I have to ask.
President Bush, what the fuck are you smoking?
I’ll grant that there are probably a lot more similarities between Korea and Iraq than anyone cares to admit — like today’s Iraq, South Korea was a complete and utter basketcase between liberation from Japanese colonial rule in 1945 and 1950. Something [...]
As part of a UN peacekeeping force, some 350 South Korean troops will call a highland area 3km outside of Tyre, Lebanon home from July [Yonhap News, Korean]. If nothing else, the troops should get in some decent sightseeing [Wikipedia].
If you want to see real citizen journalism, check out Middle East Journal by Michael J. Totten. On the other hand, fair and balanced it ain’t. His latest piece is on the rapid development in the Iraqi north (AKA: Kurdistan).
Iraqi Kurdistan is technically occupied by a foreign power, but this occupation surely ranks among one of [...]
Well, it didn’t take long for Pressian and the Hankyoreh to start blaming the United States for the recent death of a Korean soldier in Afghanistan…
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