The kidnapping of 23 South Korean nationals by Taliban in Afghanistan has put the Korea Muslim Federation (KMF) in an awkward position when it came to presenting Islam as a religion of peace, A Rahman Lee Ju-Hwa, deputy cleric in a Seoul mosque, told Daily Times on Monday.He was waiting, along with his delegation, for an appointment with opposition leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman to rally support for the hostages on Monday. “Yes, such actions are giving a bad name to Muslims in [South] Korea,” he said. The Taliban had kidnapped 23 Koreans, mostly women, a month ago and are demanding the release of detained Taliban leaders in return for the Koreans. Two hostages have been killed and two released so far.
Rahman said Muslims comprised 0.0001 percent of South Korea’s total population, and they were misunderstood and known “only as terrorists”. “If the Taliban release the hostages without any harm, it will send a good message to Koreans,” Rahman said.
Seoul-based Pakistani businessman Zulfiqar Ali Khan is facilitating the delegationÂ’s visit to Pakistan. The Korean Foreign Ministry advised the delegation against visiting Peshawar for security reasons, but they went ahead with it anyway.