Response
Public gatherings were held in Korea during the capture to pray for the safety of the hostages. Muslims residing in Korea also expressed their grief regarding the incident and avow that the acts of the Taliban are against the principles of Islam. Many Koreans nevertheless held numerous protests and demonstrations outside the Seoul Central Mosque.
On the other hand, many Koreans were critical of the hostages, as the hostages were conducting Christian missionary service in Islamic Afghanistan despite the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade's repeated warnings that Taliban has plans to kidnap Koreans in order to free imprisoned militants. Protestant Churches in general also come under intense criticism in South Korean society.
Among these criticising the deal from the government as a dangerous precedent was the bishop of Taejon and chairman of Caritas Corea Lazarus You Heung-sik.
The execution of the two hostages also provoked outrage in much of the rest of the world.
Read more about this topic: Korean Missionaries
Famous quotes containing the word response:
“There are situations in life to which the only satisfactory response is a physically violent one. If you don’t make that response, you continually relive the unresolved situation over and over in your life.”
—Russell Hoban (b. 1925)
“Love is the victim’s response to the rapist.”
—Ti-Grace Atkinson (b. 1938?)
“Because humans are not alone in exhibiting such behavior—bees stockpile royal jelly, birds feather their nests, mice shred paper—it’s possible that a pregnant woman who scrubs her house from floor to ceiling [just before her baby is born] is responding to a biological imperative . . . . Of course there are those who believe that . . . the burst of energy that propels a pregnant woman to clean her house is a perfectly natural response to their mother’s impending visit.”
—Mary Arrigo (20th century)