SOUTH KOREA:A second South Korean hostage has been confirmed shot dead by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The Islamist rebels threatened to kill more of the remaining 21 Korean Christian aid workers being held if their demands for the release of militants - jailed by the Afghan government - were not met by a new deadline today.
The latest murder highlights the difficulty Seoul finds itself in. It is trying to negotiate the release of its citizens but has no scope to meet Taliban demands. Its foreign ministry said the body of Shim Sung-min (28) had been found on the side of a road in Ghazni province, southwest of Kabul.
Mr Shim was a member of the Saemmul Church, whose members defied official travel warnings and went to Afghanistan to help in hospitals and schools during their summer holidays.
The 18 women and five men were kidnapped nearly two weeks ago south of Kabul. Their leader, Pastor Bae Hyung-kyu (42), was killed last week.
Qari Mohammad Yousuf, a Taliban spokesman, said: "If the Kabul administration and Korean government do not give a positive reply to our demand about the release of prisoners by tomorrow 12.00 [local time], we will start killing other hostages."
However, president Hamid Karzai's government, which was criticised for swapping five Taliban for a kidnapped Italian journalist earlier this year, appears unwilling to trade. "We shouldn't encourage kidnapping by accepting their demands," said a spokesman.