Afghan police find body of Korean

Tuesday, July 31, 2007 : Police discovered the body of a second South Korean aid worker in central Afghanistan as kidnappers warned they would kill more of the remaining 21 hostages by Wednesday if Taliban prisoners are not freed. South Korea, meanwhile, pleaded with the international community to set aside the normal practice of refusing to negotiate with hostage-takers, and relatives of some of the remaining hostages appealed for U.S.help in freeing their loved ones.

South Korea "is well aware of how the international community deals with these kinds of abduction cases," said a statement from the president's office. "But it also believes that it would be worthwhile to use flexibility in the cause of saving the precious lives of those still in captivity and is appealing (to) the international community to do so."

The comments came after Afghan officials found the body of Shim Sung-min, 29, a former information technology worker who was volunteering with the South Korean church group on an aid mission to Afghanistan.

He was killed Monday after two deadlines given by the Taliban demanding the release of insurgent prisoners passed with no action.

Last week, the church group's leader, Pastor Bae Hyung-kyu, was fatally shot.

A purported Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, said senior Taliban leaders decided to kill Shim because the government had not met Taliban demands to trade prisoners for the Christian volunteers, who were in their 13th day of captivity Tuesday.

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Tuesday, July 31, 2007 : South Korea confirmed today that a 29-year-old man was the second South Korean hostage killed in Afghanistan, and said further deaths would not go unanswered in the standoff where 21 people remained captives of the Taliban.

The body of Shim Sung-min, a former information technology worker who was a volunteer with a South Korean church group on an aid mission to Afghanistan, was found today morning by Afghan authorities.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Hee-yong confirmed his identity in a briefing to reporters.

"The government expresses deep condolences to his family," Cho said. "We cannot contain our anger at this merciless killing and strongly condemn this."

"If there is an act claiming the lives of our people again, the government won't sit idly by and watch," presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-sun said. "We will ensure they take responsibility for the lives of our people."

"We pray for the souls of the killed and offer deep words of comfort from our heart," Cheon said.

Shim was the second hostage killed in the standoff that began on 19July when the group from the Saemmul Community Church was seized from a bus while driving from the Afghan capital, Kabul, to the southern city of Kandahar.

The church group's leader, Pastor Bae Hyung-kyu, was shot dead last week in unclear circumstances.

Two deadlines given by the captors for the release of Taliban prisoners passed yesterday without any action, before the insurgents said late yesterday that a second hostage had been shot. The Taliban have threatened to kill all the hostages if their demands are not met.

Cheon, the presidential spokesman, said Seoul was constrained in its ability to meet the Taliban demand because it had limited influence on the Afghan government.

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