south korea
08/07/2007
Korean Hostage's Husband Sends YouTube Video Message
Thanks to the priorities of American news coverage, you may not have heard this, but on July 19 -- for context, around the time that Lindsay was getting out of rehab and Britney was frigging up her OK cover shoot -- 23 South Korean aid workers were captured by Taliban militants in Afghanistan. Since then, two of the seven male hostages have been murdered, and according to the captors, two of the 16 female hostages are gravely ill.
The Afghan government, which has a non-negotation policy when it comes to terrorists, has ruled out the possibility of meeting the militants' demands and releasing jailed insurgents, though a face-to-face sitdown may still be in the works.
But the families of the hostages are taking an extraordinary action. They are posting videos online on YouTube, reaching out to their imprisoned loved ones and appealing to the captors. In this video, Ryu Hang Sik sends a message to his wife, Kim Yun-yeong. He tells her how much he loves her, how proud her children are of her, and asks her to hold on just a little bit longer. Watching him read his letter aloud, his fist clenching in his lap as he reviles himself for sleeping and eating when he knows his wife doesn't even have those simple privileges, it's hard to imagine anyone would not be moved.
More videos will follow. Let's hope that somehow, they reach both captives and captors, and maybe it'll be hearts and not heads that make the difference in this crisis.
