South Korea is bracing for possible protracted negotiations for the release of South Korean hostages in Afghanistan after Taliban militants extended the deadline for their lives once again by 24 hours.
Government officials said South Korea is mobilizing "effective measures" to resolve the hostage situation in continued negotiations after the deadline extension was announced.
"Right now, we can neither be optimistic nor be pessimistic, and a cool response is needed," a government official said, asking to remain anonymous. "In handling the situation, the government has close cooperative ties with the United States and other friendly countries."
The official added that the government confirmed the safety of the hostages.
The deadline extension comes amid concerns that the ongoing negotiations between the Afghan government and Taliban rebels would drag on and that the Taliban might push for a ransom and the release of Taliban prisoners.
In March, it took 15 days for the Italian government to secure the release of an Italian journalist taken hostage in Afghanistan.
At that time, Afghan President Hamid Karzai was criticized by the United States for authorizing the release of five Taliban prisoners in exchange for the reporter. Karzai called the trade a one-time deal.
Vice Foreign Minister Cho Jung-pyo is leading a South Korean delegation to Afghanistan that arrived Sunday to discuss the release of the hostages with Afghan officials and other allies of South Korea, including the U.S.
The U.S. has led multinational forces in Afghanistan since it overthrew the Taliban regime in 2001, citing its connection with Al Qaeda, the group behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The U.S. called on the kidnappers to immediately free the South Korean hostages.
"These are innocent people who pose no threat to anybody," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. "We stand with the South Korean government while they follow this matter closely."
Taliban spokesman Qari Muhammad Yousaf Ahmadi told the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP), "The deadline has been extended by 24 more hours. We want the South Korean delegation to come and hold direct talks with the Taliban."
The spokesman said the Korean Embassy in Kabul contacted the Taliban militia on Monday despite the Kabul government's opposition to direct contact between Seoul and the Taliban.
Ahmadi also said the militants extended the deadline another day since the Afghan government refused to release the 23 Taliban
prisoners.
"If the government won't accept these conditions, then it's difficult for the Taliban to provide security for these hostages, to provide health facilities and food," Ahmadi told the Associated Press. "The Taliban won't have any option but to kill the hostages."
The latest extension came hours after a man claiming to be speaking for Taliban commander Abdullah Jan told the AIP, "We urge the Korean government to hold direct talks with us, as negotiations with the Afghan government are heading for failure."
Seoul officials said they have yet to receive any such demand from the kidnappers and that South Korean and Afghan governments have various channels of direct and indirect communication with the group "actually holding the South Koreans."
Various international media reports said the Afghan militant group is also demanding the withdrawal of about 200 South Korean Army medics and engineers deployed in the war-torn country, as well as the release of the Taliban prisoners.
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun went on the air Saturday to appeal for the safe release of the hostages and reaffirmed the country's plan to pull the troops out by year's end as scheduled.
The South Korean hostages, mostly nurses and English teachers from a church group doing volunteer work, were seized on Thursday at gunpoint from a bus traveling from Kabul to Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban militia.
(Yonhap)