South Korea's religious workers who were captured by the Taliban have been released. But of course one of the demands that the South Korean government has accepted is the complete withdrawl of South Korean troops from Afghanistan. The plan is that no South Korean servicemen will be in Afghanistan by the beginning of September.
The South Korean government ignored the Afghan government and dealt with the Taliban directly.
I can't believe I hold the passport of this sort of country.
But a bunch of religious workers going against the orders of the government to not go got themselves captured and handed the Taliban a sweeping victory over South Korea. Outstanding. Great job guys.
Anyways, South Korean troops will remain in Iraq for some time but I think the Iraqi insurgents have just figured out how to get rid of them.

Brace yourselves folks, they found something that works. There will be more of this coming to a country near you soon. My advice to any country assisting militarily is to have all your civilian do-gooders didi post haste. At this point I am very glad the job I tried for last year fell through.

13th I feel your shame. Some countries just don't have the hutzpah for dealing with the breed of ******* the Middle East turns out.

Thing is, Christian groups wield so much influence in South Korea at all levels, even government that no doubt that this is their work.
The South Korean government officially forbade Christian missions to Afghanistan but these idiots decided to go anyway. They even signed papers saying they were willing to die for Christianity.
No doubt the Christian groups tapped their government resources to the max to ensure this outcome. There is a lot of talk in the country that President Noh Mu-hyeon is in a lame duck situation and is in control of absolutely nothing. I believe this is how they managed to take such drastic action.
These guys who went to Afghanistan didn't even have any armed guards contracted to them. They really believed that God would protect them... after all they were doing his work.
Don't these guys even realize that if they do convert someone, it's practically giving that person and perhaps the entire family a death sentence?
I too believe that around the world, kidnapping Koreans will be the "in" thing. First it was big in Somalia with the crew of a ship that was captured by pirates. They got a huge sum of money. Then the Taliban pull off a cheap imitation, get money AND troop removal.
It was Religious Fanatics vs Religious Fanatics with Guns. Personally, I wished the Taliban just did them all. Give the damn Christian movement in South Korea a wakeup call. The problem with Christianity in South Korea is that it is too extreme and far too powerful in all areas, including politics (though unofficially of course).
The dangers of groupthink.
Guy A: Hey, there's guys with guns out there, shouldn't we take precautions?
Guy B: We're doing the Lord's work. God will protect us.
Guy A: ... (can't say anything because he's afraid the group, already staring at him angrily, might accuse him of not having enough faith and therefore make him a bad Christian)

On top of this you have South Korea who's trying to sever ties with the US, the only reliable ally it can ever have, doesn't realize China is a threat but rather naively welcome their rise and thinks North Korea's a great buddy.

And worse, South Korea thinks it's just done a good thing. They think this is a victory.

Oi, I've seen all of this you speak of. It is bewildering.

"Rarely are the actions of any government a true reflection of the character and wishes of its citizens and NEVER is it a measure of the mettle of its warriors."

I think the problem with South Korea lies in the citizens.
They elected a bunch of student demonstrators from the 70s and 80s who have done a fine job of tearing apart the country. The only thing that's kept the country afloat so far is work ethic.

I saw it. Am sorry to hear that, my friend!

Damn! Sorry to hear that, dude.

I think Commodore Preble said that "Giving into demands leads only to harsher demands".

A sad turn in the war on terror...

Yeah another blow. And the nature of how it happened is just pathetic... it makes France's defeat in front of the Germans in World War II look like a heroic war effort.

^^^ Ouch... kinda true though.