The South Korean government has won praise at home for its part in securing the release of the hostages in Afghanistan, but critics said Seoul may have set a dangerous precedent by negotiating directly with the Taliban.

The Chosun Ilbo, South Korea's biggest daily and one of the leading critics of President Roh Moo-hyun's government, said in an editorial that the administration should be commended for resolving the situation while minimizing losses.

It cautioned, however: "For the first time ever, we had to negotiate directly with terrorist abductors. We cannot deny the fact that this precedent could possibly act as a burden on Korea's international image in the future."

Other leading newspapers took a similar editorial line.

South Korea's presidential Blue House said that under the deal it struck with the Taliban, it has to withdraw its small contingent of non-combat troops in the country within the year and stop its nationals from doing missionary work in Afghanistan.

However, South Korea had already decided before the crisis to pull its 200 engineers and medical staff out of Afghanistan by the end of 2007. Since the hostages were taken it has banned its nationals from traveling there.

Spokesman Chon has said there was nothing more to the deal than the announced conditions but was evasive in responding to questions at a briefing on Wednesday on whether a ransom was paid, saying only South Korea had done what was needed.

Internet discussion boards in South Korea were filled with messages welcoming the release, but there was also criticism of the suburban Seoul church for making an ill-advised mission to Afghanistan and putting the government in a bind.

Prior to the kidnapping, South Korea had warned its citizens not to travel to Afghanistan and blocked many of its growing legion of evangelical Christians from going there due to safety concerns.

Saemmul Church is now in talks with the government over who will pick up the tab for the release.

The government may seek compensation from the church for expenses incurred in trying to win the hostages' release, as they ignored the official warnings not to travel to Afghanistan, it was reported yesterday.

The Foreign Ministry has already asked the church to repay airfare and medical fees spent on transporting and treating the two hostages released earlier and also airlifting the bodies of two killed hostages back to South Korea, said Kwon Hyuk-soo, a church official.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that the government is currently conducting a legal review over whether to seek reimbursement for other expenses, such as travel expenses for government officials involved in the negotiations with the Taliban. The report cited an unidentified government official.

Presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-seon told reporters yesterday: "it's too early to talk about it ... It is an issue that we can think about after the hostages are back safely.

"If there are things that they should be responsible for, it's natural that they should take the responsibility, but we haven't finalized (our position) on the issue."

Kwon, the church official, said the church would accept the government's compensation request so far, and would also pay to bring home the 19 people remaining in Afghanistan. He said the government had not yet asked to be reimbursed for other expenses.

If the government decides to seek compensation for other expenses, it would be the first time that South Korea has done so - reflecting public criticism that the hostages and the church were rash in pushing ahead with their trip despite a government warning.

"They should pay all expenses incurred, let alone their own medical fees and airfare," Yang Soo-woung, 36, an office worker in Seoul, said.

"I really don't understand why they went there."

In all, the insurgents seized 23 Koreans on July 19 from a bus in Ghazni province and initially demanded the release of Taliban members held prisoner by the Afghan government.

They killed two hostages, and then released another two earlier in what they said was a goodwill gesture.

(China Daily via agencies August 31, 2007)