SOUTH KOREA: Seoul criticised for hostage deal with Taliban
Updated
Six weeks after being kidnapped by Taliban militants in Afghanistan, a group of South Korean church workers has been released from captivity. Twelve of the nineteen were freed on Wednesday; the others were expected to be released soon. Their freedom was secured in a deal between South Korea and the Taliban, in which Seoul agreed to keep to an existing commitment to pull its troops out of Afghanistan by the end of the year, and to ban missionaries from travelling there in future. The Taliban appeared to back down on earlier demands for a prisoner exchange, but critics say Seoul may have set a dangerous precedent in entering direct negotiations.
Presenter: Corinne Podger
Speakers: Professor Clive Williams, director of Terrorism Studies at the Australian National University
