Korean hostage executed by the Taliban.

No… this is very wrong.

1 of 23 has been executed; [The Reuters news service, reporting from Seoul, said South Korea had identified the victim as Bae Hyung Kyu, 42, a Christian pastor who was the leader of the group. His bullet-riddled body was found near where the group was abducted.] The rebels had briefly claimed that the man was shot because he had fallen ill and the hostage-takers were unable to get him to a hospital. Police commander Ali Shah Ahmadzai, however, said the man had been shot 10 times in the head, chest and stomach. Which clearly smacks of execution. What a cop-out. I realize how cowardly the Taliban is, executing civilians and claiming to do it because they are ill and can’t be brought to a hospital. Cowardly.

The Korean evangelical Christian missionaries, including 18 women, were abducted last Thursday when their bus was stopped along the main highway connecting Kabul and Kandahar. South Korean officials have said the church members were doing aid work and were not missionaries. My guess is that they were on a brief stint, a short-termer with community development as a purpose. Something to consider for us who like to travel overseas on brief stints; it can be life-threatening.