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).
In the sweltering streets of Jakarta, buskers carry towering, hollow puppets and pass around a bucket for donations. Now, they fear becoming outlaws. City authorities said they would crack down on use of the sacred ondel-ondel puppets, which can stand as tall as a truck, and they are drafting legislation to remove what they view as a street nuisance. Performances featuring the puppets — originally used by Jakarta’s Betawi people to ward off evil spirits — would be allowed only at set events. The ban could leave many ondel-ondel buskers in Jakarta jobless. “I am confused and anxious. I fear getting raided or even
Eleven people, including a former minister, were arrested in Serbia on Friday over a train station disaster in which 16 people died. The concrete canopy of the newly renovated station in the northern city of Novi Sad collapsed on Nov. 1, 2024 in a disaster widely blamed on corruption and poor oversight. It sparked a wave of student-led protests and led to the resignation of then-Serbian prime minister Milos Vucevic and the fall of his government. The public prosecutor’s office in Novi Sad opened an investigation into the accident and deaths. In February, the public prosecutor’s office for organized crime opened another probe into
RISING RACISM: A Japanese group called on China to assure safety in the country, while the Chinese embassy in Tokyo urged action against a ‘surge in xenophobia’ A Japanese woman living in China was attacked and injured by a man in a subway station in Suzhou, China, Japanese media said, hours after two Chinese men were seriously injured in violence in Tokyo. The attacks on Thursday raised concern about xenophobic sentiment in China and Japan that have been blamed for assaults in both countries. It was the third attack involving Japanese living in China since last year. In the two previous cases in China, Chinese authorities have insisted they were isolated incidents. Japanese broadcaster NHK did not identify the woman injured in Suzhou by name, but, citing the Japanese
RESTRUCTURE: Myanmar’s military has ended emergency rule and announced plans for elections in December, but critics said the move aims to entrench junta control Myanmar’s military government announced on Thursday that it was ending the state of emergency declared after it seized power in 2021 and would restructure administrative bodies to prepare for the new election at the end of the year. However, the polls planned for an unspecified date in December face serious obstacles, including a civil war raging over most of the country and pledges by opponents of the military rule to derail the election because they believe it can be neither free nor fair. Under the restructuring, Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing is giving up two posts, but would stay at the
RSS