Freed South Korean hostages return home

The Taliban delegation arrived several hours after the talks were scheduled to start, said Franz Rauchenstein, an ICRC official. There was no immediate explanation what caused the delay.

The Taliban left after the talks in ICRC vehicles, without speaking to reporters.

Waheedullah Mujaddid, the former head of the Afghan delegatation in earlier talks with the Taliban hostage takers, told The Korea Times that there has been "visible progress" and he believes that ultimately both sides will reach a "peaceful solution to the issue."

Speaking over the telephone from Ghazni Province, where the militants seized the hostages, Mujaddidi said the Taliban leadership also wanted an end to the crisis now. While acknowledging he was no longer part of the talks and could not comment with full confidence, he added he was sure of a peaceful outcome.

Although the main mediator between Taliban and the Korean delegations, Haji Muhammad Zahir, was not available, a source close to him said the talks may continue for another few days if the two sides failed to reach an agreement on Thursday or Friday.

Meanwhile, South Korean citizens continue to rally around the 19 remaining captives. Most recently, doctor and Buddhist musician Lee Jin-ho, wrote a song for the hostages entitled "Song for the Taliban." In the song Mr. Lee asks, "Why have to fight, why have to kill, make this heaven to hell? God! What he wants is peace of mankind," reports South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo.

The video clip of the song, which first appeared on the Korean UCC site Pandora TV, features pictures of pastor Bae Hyung-kyu and Shim Sung-min, two hostages killed by the Taliban. It also features pictures of surviving hostages, with the caption, "Song about the invisible wall between us". Tranquil guitar music accompanies Lee's voice. The clip also includes the English lyrics on sheets of paper written by Lee and Korean subtitles.

Despite continuing support from much of the population, a number of South Koreans remain critical of the hostages for entering Afghanistan in the first place. They say it was an unnecessary risk, reports the Voice of America.

However, there has also been strong South Korean criticism of the hostages themselves, who traveled to Afghanistan in defiance of a South Korean government ban. South Korea contributes several hundred non-combat personnel to U.S.-led international efforts to stabilize Afghanistan after three decades of conflict.

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