Two female aid workers freed by Afghanistan's Taliban returned home Friday to South Korea, after learning for the first time that two fellow captives were killed during the nearly month-long ordeal.
Kim Gi-Na and Kim Kyung-Ja looked shocked and traumatised when they briefly appeared before TV cameras after landing at Incheon airport west of Seoul.
"I'm sorry for causing so much concern for the people," Kyung-Ja, 37, said in mumbled remarks. "I hope all the remaining hostages return home at the earliest possible date."
Gi-na, 32, added: "I only hope all the remaining people will be immediately freed."
The pair were among a group of 23 South Korean aid workers, including 16 women, who were seized by the Taliban on July 19 while travelling by coach through insurgency-plagued southern Afghanistan.
The guerrillas shot dead two male hostages to press their demands for the release of Taliban prisoners, a demand rejected by the Kabul government.
The women, who were freed Monday, were told only when they started their journey home that the two men had been shot dead, a government official who accompanied them told Yonhap news agency.
"They learned of the two deaths only after they began heading for home on August 16," the unidentified official said. "They were shocked and traumatised at the news and were lost for words for a while.
"They wept for half an hour."
The hostages had been separated into small groups and moved frequently to frustrate any rescue mission.
The women met their brothers on board the plane before heading into the terminal, YTN TV reported. After their brief remarks, they were seen walking hand-in-hand to an ambulance which took them to a military hospital for check-ups.
Gi-Na and Kyung-Ja were released in what the insurgents called a "goodwill gesture" after the Taliban had begun negotiating directly with South Korean government representatives in Afghanistan.
The pair underwent medical check-ups at a Korean military base at Bagram in Afghanistan before flying home.
Foreign media were barred from the terminal. Officials have said they want to limit the women's exposure to the media for fear of jeopardising the safety of those still in captivity.
Gi-Na and Kyung-Ja were admitted to a VIP room at the army hospital and kept incommunicado, Yonhap reported.
Negotiations Thursday for the release of the remaining 19 made no progress, according to the Taliban, and an aid agency official involved in facilitating dialogue said there was little chance of any talks Friday.
The South Koreans were on an aid mission organised by Saem-Mul Presbyterian church at Bundang in suburban Seoul. Its leaders have apologised for organising what critics called a reckless trip.
South Korea has since made unauthorised travel to Afghanistan an offence punishable by a jail term, and has urged other aid groups in the country to leave as soon as possible.
Newspapers said office worker Kim Kyung-Ja had told her family before she left for Afghanistan a month ago that she was heading to Dubai, in order to spare them anxiety.
She used her annual leave to make the trip.
Kim Gi-Na teaches computer animation at an occupational college but spends her spare time teaching children at the Saem-Mul church.
South Korea has said it has little scope to meet the Taliban demand for a prisoner release. It has called on other parties to be "flexible" but has not publicly asked the US or Afghan government to arrange a prisoner swap.
President Roh Moo-Hyun earlier this week urged a redoubling of efforts. "We shouldn't relax until the last moment," he said.