Missionary hostages are home

The kidnappings left the Christian community with a rift.

WASHINGTON POST

SEOUL, S. Korea — Looking wan and exhausted, and apologizing for the trouble they have caused their nation, South Korean missionaries held hostage for six weeks in Afghanistan arrived home early today.

The 19 young Christians released last week by Taliban captors returned to a country thankful for their safe return but angered by what has been widely portrayed as the recklessness of the missionaries and the church that sent them into a war zone.

Moments after landing at Incheon International Airport, one of the released hostages apologized.

“Unexpectedly, we were kidnapped and we are very apologetic and sorry for the trouble we caused our government and our people,” said Yoo Kyung Sik. “We thank everyone for thinking about us and allowing us to come back home.”

The missionaries were immediately taken to a hospital for checkups and a reunion with their families.

What resulted

The kidnappings have caused a public rift in South Korea’s large and prosperous Christian community. Worried about an anti-Christian backlash in this traditionally Buddhist country, mainstream Protestant groups have promised to refrain from sending missionaries into conflict areas and have distanced themselves from the church that sponsored the missionaries held hostage.

The Saemmul Church, a large congregation in an upscale southern suburb of Seoul, ignored a warning from the government in February not to send its missionaries to Afghanistan. The written warning said the Taliban was known to be planning to abduct South Koreans to win the release of prisoners.

Once the missionaries arrived in Afghanistan, their behavior appeared to compound that risk. They made themselves conspicuous targets by traveling overland by night in a rented bus.