Taliban seize members of South Korean church

[helderheid]

By Choe Sang-Hun
Published: July 20, 2007


SEOUL: Officials confirmed Friday that a group of South Koreans, apparently volunteers from a Christian church, appeared to have been abducted in Afghanistan, where news reports said the Taliban had claimed responsibility and said they were questioning them before deciding their fate.

A police official in Seoul said the government believed the Christians - 15 women and 3 men - might be members of Saemmul Presbyterian Church in Bundang, a city just south of Seoul. Officials at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul said South Korean nationals did appear to have been abducted in the country.

Oh Soo In, a church official, said that a group of Saemmul Presbyterian members in their 20s and 30s were in Afghanistan on a summer vacation, hoping to do volunteer work in hospitals in the southern city of Kandahar. They arrived July 13 and had been scheduled to return home next Monday.

"The government contacted us about 20 of our church members who are traveling in Afghanistan," Oh said. "All our church leaders are holding an emergency meeting, waiting for the final word from the government on what really happened to our youth members."

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http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/20/news/afghan.php