On July 19, 2007, 23 South Korean missionaries were captured and held hostage by members of the Taliban. The incident happened while missionaries passing through Ghazni Province of Afghanistan. Two of the hostages were executed before the deal was reached between the Taliban and the South Korean government. The group, comprised of sixteen women and seven men, were captured while traveling from Kandahar to Kabul by bus on a mission sponsored by the Saemmul Presbyterian Church. The crisis happened when the driver allowed two local men to board. They started shooting to bring the bus to a halt. Over a month, the hostages were kept in cellars and farmhouses and they were moved in groups of three to four.

As South Korea was already scheduled to withdraw its 200 troops by the end of the year, the Taliban’s initial demand was only that they hold to this plan, but later also sought the release of 23 Taliban militants from prison. South Korean representatives in Washington DC requested a meeting with Afghanistan Kidnap / Ransom experts from SCG International Risk on August 1. SCG then began advising the South Koreans on ways to resolve the crisis.

The Taliban issued and extended several deadlines for the release of the prisoners, after which they threatened to begin murdering the hostages. Freedom for the militants was ruled out when it was apparent the Korean negotiators could not secure the release of Afghani prisoners, as Afghan president Hamid Karzai had previously faced criticism for freeing five rebel prisoners in exchange for an Italian hostage.

A Face-to-face meeting between the Taliban and South Korea began on August 10, resulting in the release of two female hostages, Kim Ji-na and Kim Gyeong-ja, on August 13. However, on August 18, a spokesman said that the talks had failed and the fates of the hostages were being considered.

Of the 23 hostages captured, Bae Hyeong-gyu and Shim Seong-min were killed on July 25 and July 30 respectively. As the negotiations progressed, two women Kim Gyeong-ja and Kim Ji-na, were released on August 13 and the The freedom of the remaining nineteen hostages (fourteen women and five men) was secured on August 28 with the participation of Indonesia as a neutral Muslim country. They were eventually released on August 29 and August 30. After the release, a Taliban official announced that South Korea had paid the Taliban more than US$20 million in ransom for the lives of the hostages. However, South Korea stated that they have made a promise with the Taliban that they would not make any statements about the ransom.

Source:http:/www.korea.net/news/issues/issueView.asp?issue_no=105

Samsung the Korean conglomerate, was held in a session of embarrassment when the former Advisor Mr. Lee Yong Chul informed the President of South Korea that The Company “Samsung” was involved in acts of severe bribery.

Mr. Lee Yong Chul, who served as a presidential monitor against corruption, said that he was handed 5 million won (£2,636) by an executive at Samsung Electronics apparently as a “holiday gift”. At first thinking it to be a small one he accepted the gift but once he came to realize that the gift was worth a huge amount he refused to accept the gift. Mr. Lee reacted strongly against Samsung’s boldness for trying to bribe him.

A week later after Mr. Lee’s assertion the chief lawyer at Samsung stated that a number of South Korean Government official apart from Mr. Lee were part the bribe, this included prosecutor, tax collectors, presidential aides, members of the judiciary and journalists.

The chief counsel at Samsung stated that Lim Chai the South Korean chief prosecutor was also one to recieve bribe on behalf of Samsung chairman. The head of country’s Independent Commission and the director of the Central Investigation Bureau were also featured to have received bribes. The prosecutors have already gone into deep rooted investigation on Mr. Kim’s allegations.

As per records Lee he was bribed by a Samsung Executive in the year 2004 by offering a “holiday gift”. Thinking the gift to be a small one he accepted it initially but knowing it to be a bribe he completely refused it with a protest note.

Mr. Lee has indeed become very famous after this act of protest. His claim of Samsungs acts of Bribery was put into much trust when he gained support from Samsung’s former chief lawyer, adding that he believed Mr. Kim’s assertion that Samsung’s bribery efforts had been systematic.

He issued his statement through a campaign group, the National Movement to Unveil Illegal Activities by Samsung and its Chairman, which said: “This is proof that Samsung’s bribery has reached not only prosecutors but the very core of political power.”
President Roh’s told The New York Times that the group’s claims were “pure speculation”.

Source:

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article2907007.ece

Incheon, an international oceanic city, represented by the image of waves. The official mark of Asian Games is integrated into the image of the sun. The waves and the sun are enhanced for the publicity of the hosting city. The green field symbolizes the free style for finishing the design in a modern style. The emblem was produced with the dynamic image of waves in the stable harmony of three primary colors to represent the image of harmony of Asian Games.

The design was formed with the focus of strengthening the harmony between the different teams participating in the Asian Games.

Incheon has formerly hosted the Korea and Japan World Cup. The games that the event included were Incheon International Marathon and Korea Open International Badminton Championship, Incheon Grand Prix International Fencing Championship, Asia Women’s Softball Championship, Incheon International Women’s Challenger Tennis Champion, Junior Tennis Championship, and Asian Youth Baseball Championship etc. Incheon has proved its ability to host 2014 Asian Games successfully by hosting Asian Athletic Championships.

Incheon personally believes that the international sports event can mark a great turning point by assisting the city’s development. They have received some positive responses from OCA member countries as Korea’s are successful in hosting the international sports events from their past which is of great strength.

Korea’s third-largest city, Incheon won the bid to host the 17th Asian Games in 2014. Korea’s strength of hosting Olympic Games lies in the following criteria’s.

• Korean’s are strong in all kinds of sports.
• Incheon is a place where there is excellent airport accessibility.
• Support and co-operation from North Korea gives things an added advantage.

As part of this event urban transportation and communication infrastructure would be built further more. Sports facilities would be taken care of by the states funds. The city also will be offering free flights and accommodations to all participants as part of the winning in the hosting. Incheon will be building sports parks, eco park and a public golf course behind the athletes’ village, changing the entire landscape of the city. This will be added as being selected as the host city, which will inturn help the port city’s efforts to become a free trade zone and a Northeast Asian business hub.

Incheon hopes to transfer itself into a Northeast Asian hub with receiving the higher international recognition and attracting increased foreign investment associated with hosting the sports event.

Incheon is expected to be a training site for both the Beijing Olympic Games next year and the 2010 Asian Games to be held in Guangzhou. The city’s bidding committee will raise international publicity by launching an extensive promotional campaign during the event.

Source:http://www.korea.net/News/issues/issueView.asp?issue_no=99

The meetings between the leaders of North Korea and South Korea is the back ground of the summit. The summit was mainly organized to serve as an occasion to normalize inter-Korean relations, which have been strained by the North’s nuclear program.

The main aim of the summit will be to contribute peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula while advancing towards South-North prosperity. In short it aims for the substantive progress rather than merely exchange views or make declarations. The summit aimed to Reduce Military Tension and Build Trust between groups. Expansion and Advancement of Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation and Creation of a Special Peace and Cooperation Zone in the West Sea was made possible through the summit. Such co-operation between the North and South made possible for the ultimate promotion of mutual growth of Inter Korean Economic Co-operation. The meeting is also expected to help the Six-Party Talks, while facilitating development of multilateral ties beneficial for the future of Northeast Asia.

Since the last decade the major meetings are happening. The first meeting happened in the year 2000 followed by the second in the year 2007. The summit failed due to lack of formal communication between North and South Korea, which makes discussing political and economic issues difficult. The summits’ agendas have included topics such as the ending of the 1953 war, the massive deployment of troops at the DMZ, the development of nuclear weapons by North Korea and human rights issues.

The first Summit was held June 13-15, 2000 in Pyongyang. Kim Jong-il, the North Korean leader, met with the Kim Dae-jung, the South Korean President at the time, who received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts as this summit occurred seemingly as a result of his Sunshine Policy, which South Korea maintains to this day. However, it was later discovered that South Korea had secretly paid the North Korean Government $500 million to attend. This news caused a major political scandal when it came out.

The second Summit was held October 2-4, 2007, also in Pyongyang, between Kim Jong-ill and Roh Moo-hyun, the current President of the Republic of Korea. This Summit has occurred in the light of the recent partially successful detonation of a nuclear device by North Korea, the development of which violated a range of guarantees, given in exchange for aid, that North Korea would cease nuclear weapon development. This Summit has probably occurred due to concerted political and economic pressure from a number of major states (America, South Korea, Japan) and in particular from China, which is the nearest state North Korea has to an ally, and who provides North Korea with the oil and food supplies which keep the country from totally collapsing.

Source:http://www.korea.net/news/issues/issueView.asp?issue_no=106