Exclusive: Plea From Taliban Hostage

South Korean Woman Tells CBS News Of "Very Difficult" Captivity; Taliban Negotiating, No Deadline Set

(CBS/AP)  A South Korean woman being held captive by Taliban militants along with 21 of her fellow aid workers has made a desperate plea for help in an exclusive telephone interview with CBS News.

"We are in a very difficult time. Please help us," said the woman, who gave her name as Yo Cyun-ju. "We are all pleading for you to help us get out of here as soon as possible… Really, we beg you."

Yo, who spoke to CBS News on Wednesday night after an interview was arranged with a Taliban commander, sounded weak as she spoke for about three-minutes in Korean and an Afghan dialect of Farsi.

"All of us are sick and in very bad condition," she said. Yo beseeched the South Korean government and the international community to make a deal with the Taliban to win their release.

She said the hostages were being held in two groups — she was with 17 other women, and the men were being held separately.

"We are in a dreadful condition," she said. She went on to describe her captivity as a "very difficult life every day", and "a very exhausting situation".

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Interview With Hostage

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The interview was the first known contact with any of the South Koreans being held by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

A senior Taliban leader in the Ghazni province, contacted by CBS News Thursday, refuted Yo's claim that many of the hostages were unwell. He said only one of the male captives was sick, and none of the women was in poor physical condition.

Mullah Mohammed Sabir, the Taliban's governor for Ghazni — not recognized by Afghanistan's government, which has its own governor in the province — said the group had provided a doctor for the ill man and he was also being looked after by several of his fellow hostages who have medical training.

Sabir told CBS News that the last deadline set by the Taliban for the Afghan government to release prisoners in exchange for the hostages had passed before dawn Thursday morning, but no new deadline was set.

He said the fate of the hostages was dependent on negotiations being held between the militant group and Afghan and South Korean officials.

According to Sabir, two Taliban members from Ghazni, Abdul salam and Mulvi Abdullah, were conducting the negotiations with officials by phone. No face-to-face contact had been made, he said.

A top South Korean envoy headed to Afghanistan on Thursday, scrambling to save the 22 of his country's citizens still held captive. Militants killed one hostage Friday, leaving his body to be discovered by police in Ghazni province.

Yo told CBS News she was unaware of any of the men being killed, due to the separation of men and women.

After conflicting reports Wednesday from Western and Afghan officials that possibly eight of the other hostages had been released, South Korean presidential spokesman Chun Ho-sun said the 22 were still believed held but not suffering from health problems.

An Afghan police chief ruled out Thursday using force to free the others and said that the Afghan negotiators were speaking with the Taliban over the phone, hoping to secure their release.

On Wednesday, authorities found the bullet-riddled body of 42-year-old Bae Hyung-kyu in Qarabagh district of Ghazni province where the South Koreans were abducted July 19. The killing sparked outrage in South Korea, where the envoy warned that those responsible would be held accountable.

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun spoke Thursday with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai and they agreed to cooperate for the safety of the captives and their quick release, Roh's office said.

Wednesday's casualty, Bae, was a founder of the Saemmul Presbyterian Church and led its volunteer work in Afghanistan. He was found with 10 bullet holes in his head, chest and stomach, said Abdul Rahman, a police officer. Another Afghan police official, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation, said militants told him the hostage was sick and couldn't walk and was therefore shot.

South Korean church officials said Bae was killed on his birthday Wednesday. An official at the South Korean Embassy in Kabul said officials were making arrangements to repatriate the body on a flight from Ghazni.

[dongsoola]

Can u guys please stick to the topic?

This issue is not religion.

This issue is about GREED.

GREED wrapped up or justified with religion maybe.

[dongsoola]

The fact is this incident is because of GREED of some US politician for the oils of that region.

South Koreans dont wanna attack nor have a war with anyone, but I guess they just had to be up there because US is like blood-ally against communism.

Now Taliban demands Taliban prisoners for exchange of abductees, and probably those prisoners are under US command, so Koreans have no power to release them whatsoever.

US seem to have this policy not to bargain with hostages, so I guess they are just gonna get all killed.

I hope US realize this war is not Koreans.

So I think US should make an exception to release Taliban prisoners requested to save Korean abductees' lives.

[down-ndirty]

Are you curious how me?
my e - mail ; [e-mail]
Posted by kkk614 at 05:10 AM : Jul 27, 2007
______________________

NOPE!! I think you're trolling for something I'm not interested in. I'll leave it at that...

If your name is Kim Ji Eun why do you use 'hg' in your email?

Is it because 'hg' stands for 'hamiltongrad?'

Busted...

[down-ndirty]

down-ndirty, Have l done something to offend you?
What are you saying? Are you pulling my leg?

it't Greek to me..... English is...it is very hard to study a foreign language... Posted by kkk614 at 04:02 AM : Jul 27, 2007
________________________

I don't recall directing any of my posts to you. I've been on the CBS boards for years and don't recall ever seeing your login before last night.
Can you tell me where/when I posted to you?

Perhaps I posted to you on one of your other login names. I suspect you are a fake...a troll. Your use of the phrase "...it't Greek to me..." and the ellipsis is not something a Korean having difficulty with English would do.

Where did you say Pusan was?

[down-ndirty]

Actually, hamiltongrad, I feel sorry for your students. I suspect you are not teaching them the complete history. For example, did you teach them that Bush was planning the Iraq war from the first few days in office? There's plenty of evidence to back that up: Paul O'Neill, Colin Powell, etc.

Did you tell them that only ONE 9/11 terrorist was from Iraq, that most of them were from countries supposedly friendly with the U.S.?

Did you teach them that the majority of the terrorists were from Saudi Arabia and that the Saud and Bush families go back a long way?

I can understand why students who are religious would accept whatever they are told; after all, they are conditioned to do that without question. I'm also not surprised that the Christian-right is still holding Bush as their hero.

Ignoring the bad judgment of the president does us no good. The right-wingers didn't ignore Clinton's bad judgment and we shouldn't ignore Bush's. Thinking that we are better than anyone else, judging other countries, and showing contempt for the rights of others has only added fuel to the terrorist flames.

You should read 'Endless Enemies' by Jonathan Kwitney. At least he is non-partisan.

OBTW: Most likely while you were in college learning to become a history professor, I was wearing the uniform of our Armed Forces, protecting your right to call me muddle-headed. I was STILL wearing that uniform when I went to college (Chapman University) in the '80s, not the '60s.

[down-ndirty]

I feel sorry for your viewpoint, and your comparison of their evil with the LAPD ? Are you kidding. Posted by Hamiltongrad at 11:51 AM : Jul 27, 2007
____________________

I feel sorry that you think my viewpoint should echo yours, and also for you condescending attitude toward people who don't agree with you.

Plus, I would not compare the evil of anyone to the LAPD. I certainly didn't do that on this topic and I don't recall ever doing it on any other topic. Perhaps you can refresh my memory?

As far as me being a lefty? On the scale of 1-10 with 10 being extreme left, I scored less than 4 for economic left and less than 1 for being a libertarian (anarchist). So that makes me a moderate, which I already knew. I harbor a lot of 'conservative' views; in fact, many of my friends thought I was a conservative.

I own a lot of guns and I wouldn't hesitate to use them if I had to. I support a lot of conservative issues and I don't necessarily support all the 'liberal' issues.

One thing I don't support is going to war based on lies and attacking the wrong country. Why didn't Bush just tell the truth and say he wanted the oil?

What's your 'political compass?'
www.politicalcompass.org

[nyteryder2]

U.S. and S. Korean Government should do whatever they can do to bring those hostages back to their family. Posted by jmh1220s at 05:15 AM : Jul 27, 2007
______________________

Why? Why do you think that? Why should others risk their lives for them? They were TOLD not to go there. They knew the dangers.

[nyteryder2]

Re: "But they knew, or should have known the situation and the odds of surviving if they were caught. Plus, they were told..."

But they had FAITH.

Let's see how that works out for them.

Posted by FeelFree1 at 11:43 PM : Jul 26, 2007


Well, every Christian's goal is to get to the kingdom of heaven... Look's like they might make it.

[hamiltongrad]

Downndirty: Clinton NY, not NJ.
Thank you for reading my posts. Everything that I am posting is true:
One of my great difficulties in teaching history is that the entering students with the best grades are often the most indoctrinated, and have no idea of the order of events. Rather they are taught "concepts" and "social studies" , namely 1. We are all the same. No civilization is better than another .2. Who are we to judge. 3. The US is basically evil, as is capitalims.

That is why I have concluded that America's confusion in the face of total EVIL ( Radical Islam and the majority of Muslims who - surveys show- support Al Quaeda, and would not oppose or "turn in" to authorities)-has been generated by this 1960s muddled headed indoctrination. My best students are from the South, have a religious centered self, and have an idea of the time line of history.
I feel sorry for your viewpoint, and your comparison of their evil with the LAPD ? Are you kidding.

[zalah]

I really doubt if the USA will willingly get involved in this mess.
Here is what the South Koreans truly think of America: http://www.rjkoehler.com/2007/07/14/hey-honey-does
-this-beef-smell-funny/

Since being famous is what Koreans seek foremost, at least a few of them are having a moment in the spotlight.

In my opinion I think the Koreans should have to deal with this themselves. They want American troops out of South Korea and protest at every change of the wind anyway so, give Korea what it wants. Pull American troops out of South Korea and let it rescue it's own idiotic citizens.

[jmh1220s]

U.S. and S. Korean Government should do whatever they can do to bring those hostages back to their family. I realise this is a very sticky situation. Those volunteers should'nt have gone to that place to begin with. Should have been more precausious of the situation they COULD be in. But whats been done is done. Only thing we can wish for them is to bring peace to the hostages and their family. I cant imagine the pain they would go through every second. :(

[kkk614]

nyteryder2,

Hello.
Busan is the second city of Korea and the first trading port.Busan is a district of the brilliant nature viewsight including Haeundae.^^
Introducing famous places, there are sea resorts like Haeundae, Gwanganri, Taejongdae, etc., and mountainswhich can see down Busan viewsight, Mt. Hwangyoung, Mt. Geumjeong, etc., and Jagalchi Market, Nampodong, Yongdusan Park, etc.
Besides, as the endest area of Korean Peninsula, Busan does an important role of the traffic center going and coming every countries in the world.
Busan is a hopeful city going up to a port in the world.^^

um..
I have a rough idea of Taliban.
They is famed for his cruelty.

September 11, 2001, twins building suicide blasting terror back that is American New York trade center Taliban which supports Al-Qaida.
Them cruel martial art one make the murder which it does.
now, take hostage Korean..
They cannat do with Washington and afghangovernment help.


Are you curious how me?
my e - mail ; [e-mail]
Please send me E-mail as soon as possible

When I receive your letter, send off straight

everybody sending on to me^^

I'am so tired, I need to sleep... bye ^^

[kkk614]

down-ndirty,

Have l done something to offend you?
What are you saying?
Are you pulling my leg?

it't Greek to me.....
English is...it is very hard to study a foreign language...

[nyteryder2]

Ji - Eun,

What is your opinion of the movie 'The Birth of a Nation?'

Why did you pick 'kkk' as part of your login name?

Where is Busan? Is it anywhere close to Pusan? How big is the city?

Do you personally know any of the hostages being held by the Taliban?

[nyteryder2]

there are so many idiots typing away...in our State Dept. Posted by Hamiltongrad at 02:04 AM : Jul 27, 2007



Most of the people in the State Department are relatives, lovers, or friends of your heros Bush and Cheney. Wolfowitz's girlfriend, Shaha Riza, worked for Cheney's daughter Elizabeth at the State Dept.

How could a 'non citizen' get a plush job like that?

[kkk614]

for what? simply because capitalistic economic system?

Whatever you undertake, think of the end.
One shouldn't kill a precious life.
You must be aware of this fact.

Don't hate a person himself, but only hate his sin.

and,,, sorry
I can't speak English very well.But I didn't study English hard.

I am going to tell you most important thing now.
That's it the life.


but,

[down-ndirty]

These Liberal Postings are all the same muddle headed junk they learned( that is programmed to spout) in College. I should know I am a maverick College Professor. ...Posted by Hamiltongrad at 02:04 AM : Jul 27, 2007
_________________

That from a 'Hamilton grad.' A person who thinks it was ok for Bush to overthrow the tyrant Saddam, which has subsequently resulted in thousands and thousands of innocent Iraqis being killed, but it was not ok for Carter to stand by while the Iranians overthrew the tyrant Shah, which, according to hamiltongrad, resulted in 'over 5000' who paid the price.

LOL!!! Different day; different lecture.

hamiltongrad: Name calling is the trademark of the fascist right-wing. Snide remarks. In contrast, seven-pesos gives us facts.

If you are a professor at the "highly selective, top-ranked, private liberal arts college in upscale Clinton, NJ" then Hamilton is really in sad shape for qualified professors.

"I am a professor..." LOL!! How egotistical!! What is your topic? History as seen through the eyes of an extreme right-wing wacko?

LOL!!! You don't write like a professor.

I think you are a troll. You come in, post a flame, and disappear, just as you did two days ago.

[brianbwb-2009]

Hamiltongrad,

Your post is obfuscation. Since what you term as "moral idiot" argument #1 is actually true, why is it idiocy? The illegality of invading Afghanistan and Iraq on the basis of lies, Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, the LAPD, the NYPD, the Milwaukee PD, Aryan Nations, the KKK, David Duke, Pat Robertson, illegal "rendition", etc., are all testaments to our own brutality.

As to date I have heard no one calling for them to have the "same money as us", but since we forced a capitalistic economic system on the whole world, should we not also be bound by its rules? They have oil, we want it, why should we not just pay them for it? Any other approach is gross hypocrisy, and our children soldiers, and the innocent people who live (and die) over the resources we covet are the victims.

[brianbwb-2009]

An open invitation to any of you "religious war" proponents to review the photos of the abuse at Abu Ghraib, and then tell me why between people defending their land from illegal invaders, are worse than the "christians" who committed the illegal invasion, and the acts shown in those pictures.

As usual, the sociopaths will be quick to decry imaginary acts of the defenders, and deny the righteous anger of the victims, while ignoring the prior acts of their own, which were the cause of the situation.

[kkk614]

Excuse me,I'm korean.Could you lend me a hand?
This is letter. there's something i wanted to ask you aboout. Please, forward this letter to George Walker Bush. And,You never have to tell korea the press.



Daer Hon. Bush


Hello, this is Kim Ji - Eun. Kim is my family name. I am South korean.I am a 20 years old. I used to live in Busan, but now I am living in Seoul. I can't speak English very well. It's my first time writing a English mail so it's hard. I am neiher pro-america or anti-america,but i like to learn english. That makes me possible to make connections with people from different countries.
Let's cut to the chase. I could be wrong but. What are you doing? There is no man who does not love his country. I love South korea and people. Now, they need a help from the Washington. Please help now! the powerless Korean government..
We should be prepared for a worst scenario situation. I thinks terrorist is too violent. What have you been doing all this while? There is no time to lose. I should very much like you to help me.