South Korean negotiators are saying they have reached an agreement to release 19 South Korean missionaries who were kidnapped by Taliban in Afghanistan on July 19th.
The announcement came from the South Korean president’s office.

Korea and Taliban officials met face to face yesterday in the town of Ghazni, south of Kabul.  There were no Afghan government workers present.

South Korean military (about 200) are to withdraw at the end of 2007.
That plan had already been in place.

All Korean NGO’s must leave Afghanistan by the end of the month (a Taliban spokesman says they will be permitted safe passage out) and Korea must not send any more Christians missionaries to Afghanistan.

Agence France Presse reports a tribal elder says the hostages will be released in small groups starting in the next three or four days.

Bae Hyung-kyu a minister at Saemmul Presbyterian Church was murdered by the kidnappers July 25th. Sim Sung-min was killed July 31.

Two female hostages were released August 13th, the Taliban’s demands for a prisoner swap were rejected by the Afghan and US government.

A South Korean iman from Seoul representing 35 thousand South Korean Muslims travelled to Pakistan to plead for the release of the hostages prior to Ramadan.
It is not known how much money the South Korean government paid for their release.

Update: 8 of the hostages have been released,  seven women and one man were handed over to the International Red Cross and South Korean officials in Ghanzi.

Update 2: Four more hostages were released Thursday, with reports the last three would be released later Thursday. The four were turned over to the International Red Cross by tribal mediators. - Al Jazeera English

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