The Case of the Korean Hostage Incident

Twenty short-term workers from Sammool Church left the Incheon International Airport like any other similar teams leaving the country to serve in different parts of the world. Since there were already a number of short-term trips taken by the Sammool Church, it seemed to be no different from other prior trips. There were at least several other short-term teams representing different parties operating within Afghanistan and there seemed to be no imminent danger. There was one single woman worker sent from the same church situated in one locality for almost a year and a number of other NGO workers who had been there for some time— not many could blame them for having sense of false security. Nonetheless, it is necessary to revisit the incident to assess what lessons could be learned from each stage of the incident: pre-hostage stage, the hostage taking stage, and finally, the post-hostage stage.