Korean Job Discussion Forums

[itaewonguy]

I think korea did the best thing!
pay the money save the lives of their people.. get them all out of their and leave the war to USA... Korea really had no business being there..
so I hope korea pulls out all their people!! becuase you pay once you will pay twice.. becuase if you dont the people will eat you alive!
still korea needed to get them out.. because it they didnt pay the money, they would be dead !

[Octavius Hite]

Again I haven't seen any proof that money was paid but even if it wasn't this was a bad decision. I said from the very beginning that Roh should have gone on TV and demanded their release. And then join the ISAF in earnest with 15,000 battle ready troops. He should also have pulled all the troops from Iraq and sent the to Afghanistan as well.

Korea should be there with way more troops. I was talking to some Koreans one day about this and they all said leave.

I said this:

"What if Japanese militants, operating from Japenese territory, attacked Seoul and killed 3000 people. Would you expect the USA and Canada and Europe to help you?

They said of course.

I said then you should help the West now.

No answer.

TIK

[The_Conservative]

[SuperFly]

[RACETRAITOR]

[mikekim]

Honestly, I think the public hates those Christians. They should have been left to rot. If you are stupid/faithful enough to teach Christianity in a bomb-torn Islamic nation you deserve to be a martyr for your cause.

[Donkey Beer]

It's no surprise that tribute was paid. It had been paid for hundreds of years to their overlords, China and Japan. Some things never change.

[mack4289]

It doesn't get much more blatant than this:

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/31/asia/AS-GEN-Afghan-Kidnappings.php

""We will do the same thing with the other allies in Afghanistan, because we found this way to be successful," [Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi] told The Associated Press via cell phone from an undisclosed location."

More damage to the credibility of the Afghan government (unbelievable that this isn't a major story):

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2007/08/29/canada-taliban.html

"The agreement drew criticism because the Afghan government was not involved in the negotiations."

So their president is already referred to as the mayor of Kabul because his influence is so weak outside the capital. Now the group that wants to take power back kidnaps foreign nationals and the Afghan government not only is powerless to get them back and powerless to stop SK from giving into their demands, they're not even involved in the negotiations? Does this mean there wasn't even a representative of the govt. present? If you're hearing this as an Afghani, who are you thinking has the upper hand between the Taliban and the Afghan govt.?

Finally, another reason why a military response would've been a mistake:

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2007/08/31/korean-hostages.html

"Yoo also said he and fellow hostages were first kept in a cellar. Later, they were moved into a farmhouse. Six days later, they were separated into groups of three or four and kept on the move.

He said his group was moved 12 times, usually on motorbikes or on foot."

[bangnangja]

Taliban originally demands a prisoner swap plus Korea pull out it's troops.
Then Korea counteroffers with agreeing to keep it's promise of an already planned troop withdrawel PLUS not allowing any more Christian workers to come to Afgahnistan.
Taliban is thrilled with such an offer and releases all hostages.

And no ransom paid!
Does Korea really think the rest of the world is so F**kin stupid!?

Thanks Korea. You saved the asses of 20 of YOUR people by paying off terrorists and now hundreds will die with the weapons they can buy.

Would be interesting to hear what the 200 Korean troops in Afghanistan think of this cowardly deal.

[Ya-ta Boy]

I think there is an ethical hole in the soul of Korea. When it was being debated whether to send troops to Afghanistan and again later to Iraq, there was very little discussion about whether it was right or wrong to fight terrorism, defend modern civilization. The two arguments were: a) we have to do it against our will because we are officially US allies and what seemed the most telling argument, Korean companies would have access to the expected reconstruction projects. The decision was made to do the least possible while still being a good ally. I think the reason far more troops were sent to Iraq is because Iraq is far richer than Afghanistan.

At the beginning of this hostage crisis, I asked my students if Korea should send troops. The majority said it would be cheaper to send ransom money. The other day one of the students who has been closely following the crisis reported that the hostages would be freed after the government paid $10 million for EACH hostage. He saw nothing negative in that. This speaks to the same ethical hole. It also brings to mind the frog in a well idiom�the tendency for many Koreans to look only at the Korean angle of things.

I don�t know for sure if ransom money was paid. Someone in the Taliban camp said so. It is plausible. It will be interesting to see how the Korean government responds to the allegation. It will also be interesting to see how the NATO countries who have troops in Afghanistan react if the allegation proves true.

I believe 9/11 was an attack on all of world civilization, and Korea is a part of that. Her response has been weak and short-sighted. In my opinion, the correct view of the seizing of the hostages was to see it as a direct attack on Korea. The proper response would have been an increase in the number of troops�combat troops.

[Real Reality]

Taliban Get Ransom Via 3rd Country
By Emal Pashtunyar
Special to Korea Times
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2007/09/205_9433.html