By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
A female hostage among the remaining 22 Koreans held by Taliban pled Saturday for U.S. help to end their ordeal.
``Please tell the Korean government and the U.S. government about us. We cannot stand this anymore,'' Yoo Jung-wha, one of the female Koreans kidnapped by Taliban militants in Afghanistan, said in a telephone interview with Reuters.
During the two-minute interview, the voice, identified to be that of Yoo Jung-hwa by her family members, asked international organizations to help them. She called for help from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Korean and American government's help.
The 39-year old woman said that she is with only three other fellows and that the others are all separated. She said she doesn't know whether they're alive or not, which makes them more scared.
Yoo said that armed Taliban militants threatened to kill them one by one and that they do not know what will happen to them tomorrow. She said they are being moved from one location to another.
For Yoo, it was her second visit to the Central Asian country after her first voluntary service last year. She is said to be involved as an English interpreter and in children's education. She was an English lecturer at a private English school in Korea.
The eldest of three daughters, she was always cheerful and cared about other people. After her first visit to Afghanistan, she is said to have missed the children in the country and sympathized with them.
She reportedly told family members that she had learnt much from the volunteer service last year and that there was nothing for the family to worry about because they were safe then.
``Her voices had some strength, which was better than I have expected. I hope the captives be released as soon as possible, I miss her,'' Yoo Jung-hee, her younger sister said after listening to the recorded voice.
Meanwhile, the hostages' health is becoming the critical issue as the spokesperson of the Taliban has already admitted that 17 out of 22 are in poor health, supposedly from mountain sickness while Korean experts believe it is from fear. The kidnappers told Kyodo news that two females are sick and some others tend to scream or yell out spontaneously. Yoo said that many of them are sick and they only eat fruit.
The government have provided three emergency kits to the Taliban through Ghazni provincial government to treat the sick, officials said.