Second South Korean hostage found slain

Police in central Afghanistan early today discovered the body of a second South Korean hostage slain by the Taliban, officials said.

The South Korean Foreign Ministry confirmed that 29-year-old Shim Sung-min’s body had been found. The former information technology worker was volunteering with a South Korean church group on an aid mission when they were kidnapped July 19, and 21 people remain captive.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Hee-yong said, “We cannot contain our anger at this merciless killing.”

The body was found on the side of a road in the village of Arizo Kalley in Andar district, about six miles west of Ghazni city, said Abdul Rahim Deciwal, the chief administrator in the area.

A purported Taliban spokesman said Monday that the militia killed the hostage because the government had not met its demand to release imprisoned militants.

Qari Yousef Ahmadi said by phone from an undisclosed location, “The Taliban warns the government: If the Afghan government won’t release Taliban prisoners, then at any time the Taliban could kill another Korean hostage.”

The Taliban has set several deadlines for the Koreans’ lives. On Wednesday the insurgents killed their first hostage, a male leader of the group.

The body of pastor Bae Hyong-gyu arrived Monday in South Korea, where the families of the remaining hostages pleaded for their loved ones’ release.