South Korea imposes travel ban on Afghanistan

SEOUL – South Korea enacted a travel ban yesterday for its citizens to Afghanistan following the recent kidnappings of its 23 nationals, amid intense diplomatic efforts to secure their release.

“We have designated Afghanistan as a travel-ban country,” said Han Hye-jin, a Foreign Ministry official, adding Seoul also asked Kabul not to issue visas to South Koreans and block their entry through different routes. She said violators could face up to a year in prison or be fined up to US$3 200 if they visit the country without government permission.A similar travel ban has already been in place on Iraq and Somalia.Earlier in the day, a South Korean church that the abductees attended said it will suspend at least some of its volunteer work in Afghanistan.It also stressed that the South Koreans abducted in Afghanistan last week were not involved in any Christian missionary work, saying they only provided medical and other volunteer aid to distressed people in the war-ravaged country.”We are sorry for causing trouble, but it is not right that the activities are misunderstood as missionary works,” Reverend Bang Young-gyun of the Saemmul Community Church in Bundang, just south of Seoul, told The Associated Press by telephone.His comments appeared to be aimed at quelling suspicion that the captives may have tried to proselytise in the deeply conservative Islamic nation, with the militants saying they will decide the hostages’ fate after investigating what they were doing in Afghanistan.He said that projects deemed ‘unwanted’ by Afghans would be suspended and that volunteers for that work would be brought back home, but he did not clarify how those projects would be identified nor whether this might include all of them.A purported Taliban spokesman said the hard-line militia extended a deadline by a day to 14h30 yesterday for the Afghan and South Korean governments to agree to the release of 23 Taliban militants or the hostages would be killed.Bang declined to say how many people his Christian church sends people abroad, or to where, citing possible negative implications in efforts to secure the hostages’ release.The United States is the only country that sends more missionaries across the world than South Korea, according to the Korea World Missions Association.More than 16 600 South Korean missionaries were working abroad as of last year.Nampa-APShe said violators could face up to a year in prison or be fined up to US$3 200 if they visit the country without government permission.A similar travel ban has already been in place on Iraq and Somalia.Earlier in the day, a South Korean church that the abductees attended said it will suspend at least some of its volunteer work in Afghanistan.It also stressed that the South Koreans abducted in Afghanistan last week were not involved in any Christian missionary work, saying they only provided medical and other volunteer aid to distressed people in the war-ravaged country.”We are sorry for causing trouble, but it is not right that the activities are misunderstood as missionary works,” Reverend Bang Young-gyun of the Saemmul Community Church in Bundang, just south of Seoul, told The Associated Press by telephone.His comments appeared to be aimed at quelling suspicion that the captives may have tried to proselytise in the deeply conservative Islamic nation, with the militants saying they will decide the hostages’ fate after investigating what they were doing in Afghanistan.He said that projects deemed ‘unwanted’ by Afghans would be suspended and that volunteers for that work would be brought back home, but he did not clarify how those projects would be identified nor whether this might include all of them.A purported Taliban spokesman said the hard-line militia extended a deadline by a day to 14h30 yesterday for the Afghan and South Korean governments to agree to the release of 23 Taliban militants or the hostages would be killed.Bang declined to say how many people his Christian church sends people abroad, or to where, citing possible negative implications in efforts to secure the hostages’ release.The United States is the only country that sends more missionaries across the world than South Korea, according to the Korea World Missions Association.More than 16 600 South Korean missionaries were working abroad as of last year.Nampa-AP