The innocent and misguided Christian volunteers are back home: This is a good news. Unfortunately, two of their comrades were not there: They had lost their lives a few days before. The inept and neurotic initial reaction by the Korean authorities may have contributed to their death. But it seems clear that the greatest loser emerging from the hostage drama is the international credibility of Korea, credibility as a reliable partner and ally and the peril in which all expatriates will find themselves in Afghanistan and any other hot spots as a result of this irresponsible attitude.
A Korean friend a few days ago asked me whether, in my opinion, Korea is a developed country. “So and so,” was my answer, half-jokingly! The ending of the hostage crisis has clearly demonstrated that, in spite of its very impressive economic progress, the Korean society and, especially, its policy-making elites remain largely provincial and parochial, unable to play the role Korea aspires to on the world stage.
Hostage-taking, for all its medieval brutality and madness, is a rational act, cold calculated by its sheer cruelty, with the scope to intimidate the opponent and put him in condition of making concessions by breaking its will to resist. By directly dealing with the Taliban and, worst, appearing to accede to their demands, the Korean government made a mockery of itself: letting everybody believe that hostage-taking is an acceptable tactic for wringing concessions, placing all foreigners in Afghanistan in direct danger. But worst is the fact that the Korean government action generates in the Korean citizens still in Afghanistan the prime targets for would-be hostage-takers.
What the simple-minded reporter, musing to the effect that human lives are more precious that abstract ideologies and fundamental principles of a society, misinterpreted is that sticking to those principles saves lives. It is no mystery that the reaction of numerous Western governments to the Korean solution of the hostage crisis has been the confirmation of their policy of not talking to the Taliban or other would-be hostage-takers. Are they callous and indifferent to the lives of their citizens? Certainly not! What they are saying is rather simple: We are not Korea. You will not get any concessions from us, so don’t even try it.
In celebrating the safe return of 21 hostages and mourn the deaths of two of their comrades all us should find a moment to meditate on the consequences of this ‘diplomatic triumph’.
A Korean friend a few days ago asked me whether, in my opinion, Korea is a developed country. “So and so,” was my answer, half-jokingly! The ending of the hostage crisis has clearly demonstrated that, in spite of its very impressive economic progress, the Korean society and, especially, its policy-making elites remain largely provincial and parochial, unable to play the role Korea aspires to on the world stage.
Hostage-taking, for all its medieval brutality and madness, is a rational act, cold calculated by its sheer cruelty, with the scope to intimidate the opponent and put him in condition of making concessions by breaking its will to resist. By directly dealing with the Taliban and, worst, appearing to accede to their demands, the Korean government made a mockery of itself: letting everybody believe that hostage-taking is an acceptable tactic for wringing concessions, placing all foreigners in Afghanistan in direct danger. But worst is the fact that the Korean government action generates in the Korean citizens still in Afghanistan the prime targets for would-be hostage-takers.
What the simple-minded reporter, musing to the effect that human lives are more precious that abstract ideologies and fundamental principles of a society, misinterpreted is that sticking to those principles saves lives. It is no mystery that the reaction of numerous Western governments to the Korean solution of the hostage crisis has been the confirmation of their policy of not talking to the Taliban or other would-be hostage-takers. Are they callous and indifferent to the lives of their citizens? Certainly not! What they are saying is rather simple: We are not Korea. You will not get any concessions from us, so don’t even try it.
In celebrating the safe return of 21 hostages and mourn the deaths of two of their comrades all us should find a moment to meditate on the consequences of this ‘diplomatic triumph’.
Giorgio Olivotto
Seoul, Korea
July 10, 2011
Seoul, Korea
July 10, 2011
PS. This article has been written in 2007, but thinks are not changed too much since that time and today I feel it is still of actuality. Then I repeat it!
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