[NYTr] Plight of hostages in Afghanistan urns Korean mood against US

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

sent by Simon McGuinness

The Irish Times - Aug 4, 2007
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/world/2007/0804/1186123300153.html

Plight of hostages in Afghanistan turns Korean mood against US

by Anna Fifield in Seoul

SOUTH KOREA: As the South Korean hostages held by Afghan rebels begin a
third week of incarceration the crisis is causing a new outpouring of
anti-American sentiment in Seoul and reshaping the political debate in
the run- up to presidential elections.

Over the past fortnight the nation has swung between despair over the
Christian aid workers' plight at the hands of the Taliban and anger that
they went to such a dangerous country in the first place.

Now, with the realisation that their government has no power to meet the
Taliban's demands - to swap the hostages for militants held by the
Afghan government - many South Koreans are blaming the US for the "war
on terror" and for failing to act to free the hostages.

The widely-held belief is that if Washington, Seoul's military ally,
gave its approval to President Hamid Karzai's government, the trade
could take place.

Hundreds of young Koreans held candle-lit protests outside the US
embassy in Seoul this week. Some wore white masks, marked with red
tears, and carried placards with messages such as: "Americans = human
beings; Koreans = flies".

Amid increasingly frenetic campaigning ahead of the December
presidential election in South Korea, some candidates have been seeking
to capitalise on this mood. "Koreans believe that, since this crisis is
a part of the war on terror, the US is the main party and not a third
party," Chung Dong-young, a former leader of the ruling party, wrote in
a letter to President Bush.

Politicians are not alone in seeking to exploit the situation to further
their own causes. The conservative newspaper Chosun Ilbo ran an
editorial this week comparing Mr Roh's government to the Taliban because
of its plans to close down reporters' rooms inside ministries. The move
is intended to create greater transparency and limit the cartel-like
behaviour of Korean reporters.

"At this critical moment, when the eyes of all Koreans are watching the
government, it is busy merging media briefing rooms to block
journalists' access to government officials," the paper said in an
editorial. "This administration is trying to push journalists out into
the streets . . . The Taliban do not exist only in Afghanistan."

Twenty-three South Koreans, 18 of them women, were taken hostage by the
Taliban in Ghazni province on July 19th. One of them, Bae Hyung-kyu
(42), was killed six days later. Another, Shim Sung-min (29), was found
dead shortly afterwards. The Taliban want the withdrawal of South Korean
troops from Afghanistan and the release of their militants from prison.

C 2007 Financial Times