South Korean political leaders will visit the US this week to plead for its help in freeing 21 South Korean hostages threatened with death by Afghanistan's Taliban, officials said yesterday.
"We politely demand the US government and the United Nations take an active role in stopping the killing of hostages," the five main political parties said in a joint statement.
They were speaking hours before the expiry of a new deadline set by the kidnappers, who have already killed two South Korean captives.
More than 20 relatives of the hostages, who were seized on July 19 while on an aid mission from a Seoul church, gathered separately outside the US embassy.
"US president and American people: Please save our children," read one banner. "Taliban: You have children -- send our children to us," read another.
They shed tears as leader Choi Kyong-ja read a statement appealing for help from the international community and the US, which refuses to negotiate with groups it considers terrorist organizations.
"Our government has no effective means to cope with the Taliban's demands," the party statement said, referring to the insurgents' insistence on swapping the South Koreans for their own jailed prisoners.
Some party parliamentary leaders planed to leave for the US as early as today and will try to meet House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said Kim Chung-hwan, a spokesman for the main opposition Grand National Party.
A second group would try to visit Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and possibly Afghanistan itself, Kim said.
The government has not publicly asked Washington, its oldest ally, for help -- appealing only for "flexibility" from the international community in negotiations with the Taliban.
Civic groups, political parties and hostage relatives were calling openly for the involvement of the US, the largest single troop contributor to Afghanistan in its battle against the Taliban.
Some 80 activists and students denounced both the Taliban and the US during a rally near the US embassy earlier yesterday.
"US is responsible for the killing of hostages," some shouted.
Chun Joon-ho, an activist group leader, told reporters: "If the United States still thinks it is an ally of our country, it must assume responsibility for the release of hostages and hold dialogue with the Taliban."
The presidential office said it still opposes any military rescue bid.
The ministry said yesterday it had formally added Afghanistan to a list of "no-go" states, along with Iraq and Somalia.
Under a new law, unauthorized visits are punishable with up to one year's jail or a fine of up to 3 million won (US$3,200).
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS