Ruminations in Korea

Korea confirmed Today (July 31) a second Korean hostage has been killed in Afghanistan, denouncing Taliban militants for committing the “barbarity.”

“One of our citizens kidnapped in Afghanistan, Shim Sung-min, was confirmed on July 31 to have been killed,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Hee-yong said in a press briefing.

The official confirmation came over 12 hours after a Taliban spokesman said the militants had shot and killed a male hostage because the Afghan government failed to trade the hostages for Taliban prisoners.

“The government cannot hide its anger and strongly denounces the Taliban militants for brutally murdering (Shim) while our government was doing its best and working closely with the Afghan government to win the safe release of our citizens,” the Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

The bullet-riddled body of Shim was found on a road near the city of Ghazni, where 23 Korean aid workers were kidnapped on July 19, according to reports.

The 42-year-old leader of the group, Presbyterian pastor Bae Hyung-kyu, was shot dead last Wednesday after Kabul refused to release jailed Taliban fighters.

Shim, a native of Goseong in South Gyeongsang Province, had worked at an IT company in Seoul but recently moved to Seongnam, just south of the capital, where he said he wanted to do volunteer work while attending graduate school.

The 30-year-old was remembered by his family as a very dutiful son, while his friends said Shim was always the first in line to offer help to anyone less fortunate, especially the disabled.

Earlier today, Kevin over at Big Hominid stated:

I don’t understand how Lindsay Lohan’s recent arrest … is more newsworthy than the terrifying drama unfolding in Central Asia. What exactly am I missing? A cynic might say this is a reality check for Koreans…

I think it is more of a reality check for the Koreans to look at themselves and whether the hostage situation is more important that a semi-final game of the Asian Cup football/soccer tournament.

During the game, it was announced that 8 of the Korean hostages in Afganistan had been released. Shortly thereafter Al Jazeera reported that one of the Korean hostages had been killed by the Taliban. I noticed the story during a quick check of the news during a lull in the soccer match. The story was then picked up by Reuters.

Did KBS2 break into the soccer match to announce that 8 hostages had been released or that one hostage has been reported killed? No.

Did KBS2’s soccer announcers mention the news? No.

Did KBS2 run a crawler across the bottom of the screen to announce the breaking news? No, but they did run a crawler apologizing for preempting a comedy program because the soccer match went into overtime, and they sent another crawler across the screen assuring viewers that some drama would be shown immediately after the game and gave a brief synopsis of the upcoming episode.

It seems that KBS2 thinks the outcome of a sporting event is more important that the outcome of a hostage crisis and reports of their countrymen being murdered.

Update:

Al Jazeera is now confirming that one Korean has been killed:

The Taliban has killed one of 23 South Korean hostages after negotiations for their release broke down, according to a Taliban spokesman.

James Bays, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Afghanistan, said that he was told by the spokesman that “a male hostage had been killed and his body was left next to the main Kabul-Kandahar highway.”

The Afghan government confirmed the Taliban had killed one of the captives on Wednesday.

“I can confirm that one of the hostages has been killed by the Taliban,” Waheedullah Mujadadi, the head of the Afghan delegation negotiating for the release of the South Koreans, told the AFP news agency.

Taliban set a “final deadline” of 20:30 GMT on Wednesday for their demands for a prisoner swap to be met.

After two weeks with only two or three rain-free days, and despite a forecast of rain, the motorcycle gods smiled and it was a beautiful day.

After meeting at Pusan Train Station and having a quick breakfast of a toasted ham, egg, and cheese sandwich, we hit the road at 9:30 am. We rode south past the train station and turned west at the overpass and rode through the tunnel into Daeshin-dong and then through Daeti tunnel into Kwejeong and Hadan. From there, we took Highway 2 toward Jinhae.

After passing Yongwon and approximately 7 km before Jinhae, we arrived at Angol and turned off of Highway 2. We through Angol along the coast until we arrived at the ferry terminal.

We boarded the 11:00 am ferry to Gadeokdo and secured our bikes for the ride.

We went to the upper deck and took a look at the ocean ahead of us.

The captain of the vessel, who was reportedly enjoying an adult beverage shortly before boarding the vessel, was ready to set sail.

We sailed past the construction of the Pusan to Keoje Island bridge.

After about 30 minutes, we turned toward Gadeokdo Island. The ferry docked at a little pier built out into the ocean.

After getting off of the ferry, we turned right and headed up into the mountains. A short ride up a steep mountain and down the other side, set the pattern for the entire island. a series of mountains, coves, and small villages.

There are no major roads around the island. The roads are little more than concrete paths and sometimes no more than a narrow walkway between buildings. No idea what two cars coming from opposite directions would do.

At any time, the roads can end in a military base, a farm house, or a beautiful outcropping of rocks.

When you come to one of these dead ends, then you can only turn around and enjoy the view on the ride back.

Many of the houses on the island are very old and little more than shacks, but they are someone’s home.

Life on the small island remains very traditional. The only industries appeared to be fishing, farming, a few small stores and a handful of restaurants.

Some of the roads between the small villages are so steep that the switchbacks are immediately below section of road that you are on.

The steepness of roads required riders to go hard on the front and back breaks and to keep a substantial distance from the rider in front of you.

Riding back to the car ferry pier, we had a good look at one of the villages, the road leading over the final hill to the pier, and the mainland off in the distance.

We arrived back at the car ferry pier about 2 hours before the ferry was scheduled to arrive. We traveled every road we could find on the island, took a very slow lunch, and rode back to the ferry pier in approximately 3 hours. We waited for the ferry inside a small store, where we enjoyed snacks, adult beverages, soda pop, and good conversation.