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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
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Koreans Talk About Ordeal

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(Newser) – "All I could think about was staying alive," said one of the South Korean aid workers released from captivity in Afghanistan yesterday. “Now that the tension is gone my body aches all over.” The group reunited in a Kabul hotel today and spoke to the South Korean media before boarding a plane for Dubai. Two ex-hostages apologized for the trouble caused by their six-week ordeal.

Some were stunned to learn that two of their fellow-captives had been killed—they said their Taliban captors had split them into groups and moved them about a dozen times, the AP reports.  A senior Afghan official said today that South Korea had paid ransom to the Taliban to win their release, a claim dismissed by the Korean government.

Three South Korean kidnapped by the Taliban cover their faces...
Three South Korean kidnapped by the Taliban cover their faces...   (Getty Images)
Released South Korean hostages reunite at a hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Friday, Aug. 31, 2007. Nineteen South Koreans freed by Taliban kidnappers prepared to fly home Friday as their government denied allegations that it paid a ransom to end the six-week hostage standoff.(AP Photo/Yonhap)
Released South Korean hostages reunite at a hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Friday, Aug. 31, 2007. Nineteen South Koreans freed by Taliban kidnappers prepared to fly home Friday as their government denied...   (Associated Press)
A released South Korean hostage weeps during a reunion with other hostages at a hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Aug. 31, 2007. Nineteen South Koreans freed by Taliban kidnappers prepared to fly home Friday as their government denied allegations that it paid a ransom to end the six-week hostage standoff....
A released South Korean hostage weeps during a reunion with other hostages at a hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Aug. 31, 2007. Nineteen South Koreans freed by Taliban kidnappers prepared to fly home...   (Associated Press)
One of the released South Korean hostages is seen through the window of a bus as they leave the Serena hotel for the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday Aug. 31, 2007. Nineteen South Koreans freed by Taliban kidnappers were on their way home Friday as their government denied allegations that...
One of the released South Korean hostages is seen through the window of a bus as they leave the Serena hotel for the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday Aug. 31, 2007. Nineteen South Koreans freed by...   (Associated Press)
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