Taliban Taliban Asked to Make Reasonable Demand
By Kim Yon-se
Staff Reporter
The government is asking the Taliban to present more reasonable demands for the release of 21 hostages in Afghanistan, a presidential aide said Thursday.
Reiterating that freeing Taliban prisoners is beyond Korea's capability, presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-seon said, ``We are calling on them to offer substitutes of that we can do (instead of the current demand required for other countries' approval).''
Critics say the U.S. and Afghan governments show a lukewarm attitude toward the release of hostages in exchange for Taliban prisoners.
Cheon also hinted that the Taliban might already have presented other demands aside from the exchange.
Asked if there are other demands, he said, ``We cannot make it public if there are. It just seems that their demands are concentrated on the issue of freeing prisoners (held by the U.S. military).''
In addition, the government is laying its hopes in overseas diplomatic activities by Baek Jong-chun, a special presidential envoy to Afghanistan who is scheduled to return home Friday afternoon. After his trip to Kabul, Baek visited Pakistan.
By extending his stay in Islamabad a day more, Baek solicited support for the release of the Koreans during his meetings with high-ranking officials there, sources said.
Cheon declined to comment on the possibility that the hostage crisis may rekindle anti-American sentiment in the country.
To emphasize the key right of other countries including the U.S. is not helpful to resolve it, he added.