The South Korean pastor gunned down by Afghanistan's Taliban on his
42nd birthday was a devout Christian always ready to help others,
friends say.
Meanwhile, a Taliban spokesman said that 22 other captured South
Koreans were alive, a week after they were taken hostage in
Afghanistan by the militants.
Bae Hyung-kyu, co-founder of the Saem-mul Presbyterian church on
the southern outskirts of Seoul, led the 23-strong aid group -
mostly young women - who were seized en route from Kandahar to
Kabul by bus.
They were to provide free medical services in the war-torn nation
but ended up at the mercy of their captors.
Bae, the father of a nine-year-old daughter, was killed yesterday
after the insurgents accused the Kabul government of dishonesty
over a proposal to swap the Koreans for jailed Taliban
fighters.
"It is so heartbreaking. Reverend Bae went out to do good but such
a bad thing happened," a Saem-mul church member told AFP on
condition of anonymity.
Bae had already done volunteer work in Bangladesh in April and
planned a mission to Africa to help the poor after the Afghanistan
assignment.
Born to a devout Christian family in the southern island of Jeju on
July 25, 1965, Bae studied theology and became a pastor in 2001
after working at a company.
His father is an elder at a Jeju church and his mother is a senior
member there.
"I still vividly remember Hyung-kyu saving a life by dissuading a
young man from attempting suicide while he was doing volunteer work
at a library before going to graduate school," Pastor Park Won-hi,
Bae's friend, told Yonhap news agency.
"As part of his nature, he liked helping others ... and he just
could not pass by without helping others in need."
His death was a shattering blow to Bae's elderly parents.
Bae Ho-jung, 72, rested his head on a Bible on hearing official
confirmation of his son's death while praying at a church in
Jeju.
"I want to believe that it is a wrong report. I want to pray
today," he had said earlier before his glimmer of hope faded.
A Taliban spokesman said that 22 other captured South Koreans were
still alive.
"Since the last deadline no more Koreans have been killed. They are
all alive so far," Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP in a
telephone call from an unknown location.
The insurgents yesterday killed Bae to put pressure on the Afghan
government to release Taliban prisoners in exchange for the
hostages.
They said more would be killed if their demands were not met.
Earlier today, Ahmadi had told AFP that he had no word on the fate
of the South Koreans, but that he was trying "to make contact with
our men."
AFP
