By Kim Tae-jong and Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporters
News of the release of two female hostages out of 21 captives in Afghanistan, apparently in stable health, thrilled their family members who have been staying at a center in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province. But they said their collective vigil will continue until all of the abductees return home safely.
One of those freed, Kim Ji-na, has a spinal disorder and is said to have received treatment for her back and eyes just before leaving for Afghanistan.
``I am not feeling well but I'm leaving. I hope I will not be a burden to my teammates,'' she wrote on her personal Web site.
Majoring in child psychology at Sookmyung Women's University, the 32-year-old works as a teacher of computer animation at an occupational college.
But she loves children and spends most of her free time at the church teaching them.
Her brother Ji-woong said she also likes to take care of children and to offer volunteer services to the poor.
He said her belief and passion for volunteer work led her to leave for Afghanistan, but that the abduction has taken a serious toll.
In an interview with NHK on July 29, she desperately asked for help in arranging the safe return of the hostages to their families.
``I can't eat the food here as it is not appropriate for me,'' she said during a phone interview with the Japanese broadcaster.
Kim Gyeong-ja, 37, has a special affection for the poor. She is an office worker and visited Dubai for two months last year. She told her family that she would be going to Dubai again, instead of Afghanistan, worried that they would not let her go to the war-torn country out of concern for her safety.
She is said to be among the three who were moved to the border next to Pakistan to avoid the possibility of a military rescue attempt. Kim is also said to have been in the same group as the late Shim Sung-min, who was killed by the militants.
The families of the freed women tearfully rejoiced after the government confirmed their safe release Monday night.
Other families had their spirits raised and cheered with relief in the hope that their loved ones will also return safely.
They said that it doesn't matter who was released as long as they were safe. ``We are more than thrilled to learn that they are free, but I must tell you that we will all wait until the very last person returns,'' Cha Sung-min, the representative of the captives' families, said.
The families of the released women said they would wait with the other families even after their members return.
The hostages' families are to visit several Middle Eastern countries' embassies in Korea to ask for help, and to release more video clips urging the Taliban to release the rest of the hostages.