South Korean Hostages in Afghanistan Hae in Park

Issue  South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan began on July 19, 2007  23 South Korean missionaries were captured and held hostage by members of the Taliban while passing through Ghazni Province  The group, composed of sixteen women and seven men, was captured while traveling from Kandahar to Kabul by bus  Korean government started to negotiate with Talban to rescue hostage

Main actors 1. Taliban 2. South Korean Government USA Afghanistan

Interests  Korean Government  rescue Korean hostages safely without any victims  not to negotiate with terrorist directly  came up with solutions that can meet the conditions of Korean government  Taliban  rescue Taliban commander and other prisoners from the Afghanistan government for the compensation of releasing hostages  withdraw Korean troops from the Afghanistan

Interests  Afghanistan  Afghanistan government does not want to condemn as making vicious circle of release and diffusion of hostages  US A  do not negotiate or communicate with terrorist such as Taliban

BETNA  Korean Government  asking for help to other nations to threat Taliban to use force toward Taliban  ask to UN peace keeping forces or NATO to solve hostage problems  Taliban  continue to threat Korean government using video tapes or killing hostages one by one for a long term  do not release all hostages for long time or might be kill all or few hostages

Negotiation Process –first round July 20 all South Korean forces be withdrawn from Afghanistan within 24 hours and also that Afghan president release all Taliban prisoners. July 21 twenty-three Taliban prisoners in exchange for the lives of the hostages July 24 demanded a sum of $100,000 in exchange for the right to contact the hostages via phone. The South Korean government refuses July 25 On July 25 and 30, two of the South Korean hostages were executed.

Taliban’s offers  First offer  All South Korean forces be withdrawn from Afghanistan within 24 hours and also that Afghan president Hamid Karzai release all Taliban prisoners  Extreme offer  Release all Taliban inmates  Bottom line  Rescuing at least the high commander of Taliban  Occupied higher positions using hostages

Korean government  Faced the problem of having negotiation with terrorists  trying to influence Taliban’s decision  did not want to have direct communication with Taliban  Insult zone  South Korean forces be withdrawn from Afghanistan and also release all Taliban prisoners

Power of commitment  Taliban tried to show the power of commitment  Showed that their commitments are firm and unchangeable  To killed Korean hostages showed, a threat that failing agreement, they will engage in certain negative conduct even though to do so would be worse

Negotiation Process –Second round August 1 Taliban militants have agreed to a face-to-face meeting requested by South Korea's ambassador". August 10 Taliban began the first round of face-to-face talks with a South Korean team concerning the hostages. August 13 two female hostages were released

Face to face communication  Allows people to develop rapport  Korean government tried hard to convince Taliban that Korean government do not have authority to release Taliban inmates  Korean government emphasized that act of killing hostages are violates Islam rules

Reaction of USA and Afghanistan  "don't negotiate with terrorists“  If a government gives in to demands from hostage, it is encouraging more acts of violence  President Bush and his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, affirmed they will not to give in to the demands of the Taliban.  With USA and Afghanistan’s power of commitment, Taliban recognized that Taliban prisoners might be not released.

Negotiation Process –Third round August 18 Taliban announced that the face-to-face talks with the South Koreans had failed August 28 Taliban agreeing to release the remaining hostages South Korea withdraws its two-hundred non-combat troops within the year and suspend missionary work in Afghanistan August 29 total of twelve hostages were released. And on August 30, the remaining seven hostages were release d, bringing an end to the crisis.

Zone of agreement  Taliban announced the failure of negotiation  Zone of agreement not meets the demand of Taliban  Taliban want to rescue at least their high commander, but the firm positions of USA and Afghanistan government makes Taliban to end up the hostage situation  Taliban found that their zone of agreement could not meet, so it is better to negotiate than going for BETNA

Conclusion  Better to reaching agreement when there are gains for both sides  In case of Korea and Taliban, it was also hard to reach agreement, Korean government not to focus on the emotion, but focused to use authority issues and cultural, religion prospects to persuade Taliban  It is good to use the power of legitimacy and commitment when you negotiate with terrorists

Thank you