The role of the South Korean government in securing the release of 19 hostages held in Afghanistan had drawn a mixed response.
Taliban insurgents freed 12 of the 19 Korean Christian church volunteers it had held for nearly six weeks yesterday. A South Korean spokesman said the remaining seven hostages are expected to be freed later today.
Vehicles carrying South Korean hostages leave the pick up area in the city of Ghazni yesterday
The Chosun Ilbo, South Korea's biggest daily and one of the leading critics of the President Roh Moo-hyun government, said the administration should be commended for resolving the situation while minimising losses.
It warned, however: "For the first time ever, we had to negotiate directly with terrorist abductors. We cannot deny the fact that this precedent could possibly act as a burden on Korea's international image in the future".
Many countries say they do not negotiate with terrorists so as not to legitimise them and encourage them to commit provocative acts.
South Korea's presidential Blue House said that under the deal it struck with the Taliban, it has to withdraw its small contingent of non-combat troops in the country within the year and stop its nationals from doing missionary work in Afghanistan.
However, South Korea had already decided before the crisis to pull its 200 engineers and medical staff out of Afghanistan by the end of 2007. Since the hostages were taken it has banned its nationals from travelling there.
A spokesman for South Korea's president was evasive in responding to questions on whether a ransom was part of the deal, saying only South Korea had done what was needed.
The insurgents seized 23 Korean Christian volunteers on July 19th from a bus in Ghazni province and initially demanded the release of Taliban members held prisoner by the Afghan government. It killed two hostages and then released another two earlier in what it said was a goodwill gesture.