Two South Korean women held hostage by the Taliban for more than three weeks in Afghanistan were freed on Monday and handed over to Korean officials in relatively good health.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the pair were driven to the city of Ghazni and handed over to South Korean diplomats there. South Korea's Foreign Ministry confirmed two women had been freed.
"Two of the hostages have been freed and handed over to us safely," said a ministry spokesman in a televised briefing.
The pair are the first hostages to be released since Taliban kidnappers seized the group of 23 Korean church volunteers from a bus in Ghazni province on the main road south from the capital Kabul last month.
The Taliban have killed two male hostages and threatened to kill the rest unless a similar number of Taliban prisoners are freed in exchange.
The two women arrived in the village of Arzoo, near the city of Ghazni, in a saloon car driven by two tribal elders and got into an ICRC vehicle.
"They were able to walk and appeared to be well, but they were very emotional and were crying," a witness said.
The governor of Ghazni said the two were "sick, but not bad".
A representative of the hostages' families, Cha Sung-min, told reporters in Seoul: "I was told by our government that the two are in relatively good condition."
South Korea's Foreign Ministry identified the released hostages as Kim Kyung-ja and Kim Ji-na.
The Taliban are still holding 19 Korean hostages, 16 of them women.
"It is fortunate that even a part of the group of hostages was released...the government will make its best effort to ensure everyone's safe return," the ministry spokesman said.
"Our hearts are heavy because there are still those who remain," Kim Ji-na's brother, Ji-ung, told reporters.
"We will be here until we can all go home with joy," he said at a church office where the hostages' relatives have been keeping vigil.
The Afghan government has refused to give in to Taliban demands to free prisoners, saying that would just encourage more kidnapping.
A Taliban spokesman said the decision to free the pair had been made by the Taliban leadership council, headed by Mullah Mohammad Omar, as a gesture of goodwill.
"As a gesture of good faith to the Korean government and United Nations, we handed over two Korean hostages to the Red Cross in Arzoo district today, and we want the U.N. and Korean authorities to consider Taliban prisoners, and we want to hear a good decision from them," said Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf by telephone from an undisclosed location.
"The other 19 hostages are safe with us," he said.