The Well Church 2
While negotiating with a reporter from the Jungsim Ilbo, Section Chief Choi called Taesik to request his cooperation. "This is Section Chief Choi. Would it be possible to request assistance from Thuraya Telecommunications?"
"Communication conditions in Afghanistan are poor, so most of the Taliban use Thuraya satellite phones. A reporter, with the NIS's cooperation, is scheduled to conduct a phone interview with the Taliban, and I want to verify the location of the person on the other end."
Once Section Chief Choi finished the call, an agent approached and reported that the negotiations with the Jungsim Ilbo reporter were finalized; they had received a promise that only content authorized by the NIS would be reported. Gathering all the agents, Section Chief Choi said, "Starlink is requesting cooperation from Thuraya, and as soon as that is complete, I plan to connect the call with the Taliban. We will receive the location data through Thuraya, so everyone, come up with questions that can extract information during the call!"
The agents began brainstorming questions to gather information in their respective fields. An hour later, having received a call from Taesik, Section Chief Choi began the phone interview between South Korea and the Taliban via a relay. The agents focused intently on the interview coming through the relay, trying to glean any possible information.
[Greetings. This is reporter Kim Se-han from Jungsim Ilbo. Can you tell us why you kidnapped the South Koreans?]
[South Korea is a country that sent troops to oppress Afghanistan, so this is to set an example.]
[What is the condition of the kidnapped hostages?]
[By the grace of Allah, they are all healthy.]
[The South Korean government says there are several groups leading the kidnapping, but which group is actually in charge?]
[We are the main force of the Taliban, and the others are cooperating forces. We are the ones who actually have the hostages.]
[Is it possible to speak with a hostage?]
[I will give you five minutes.]
The Taliban switched the hostage, and a woman other than the one who had interviewed with the American media answered the phone.
[This is reporter Kim Se-han from Jungsim Ilbo. Are you one of the kidnapped South Koreans?]
The terrified woman replied in a trembling voice.
[Sob, sob, sob. Please rescue us quickly.]
[They say you moved from a cave to a village; how far did you travel?]
[We traveled for about an hour by car to get here. I entered the village immediately, but some of the others walked to a neighboring village.]
[They say the hostages' health is poor because of the bad weather in Afghanistan; how is your physical condition?]
[I'm okay, but my colleague next to me is very sick.]
[Have you been to a nearby hospital?]
[They said it was difficult to visit a hospital, so they gave back the emergency medicine that was taken, and my sister took the medicine.]
[Have you heard any news about the other kidnapped colleagues?]
[No. I haven't seen the other colleagues since we were separated.]
The Taliban snatched the phone, saying time was up. [Time is up now. If the South Korean government does not accept our demands by tomorrow night, we will execute the hostages one by one.]
[Is it possible to speak with the other hostages?]
[No more calls. I hope you deliver our demands to the South Korean government quickly.]
The Taliban ended the call immediately after delivering his message, and the NIS agents compiled the information they had gathered from the conversation.
"Did you pinpoint the location of the cave mentioned in the call?"
"Local information is scarce, so it's difficult to confirm the cave's location."
"Seek the cooperation of the local Afghans! If we can just find the location of the caves near Ghazni Province, it's possible!"
As Section Chief Choi was pressing the agents, his phone rang.
"Representative Kim...?"
"Thank you. That was a huge help."
After hanging up, Section Chief Choi immediately issued orders. "The hostages' location has been confirmed. It's the village of Arizo Kalay. Send a drone immediately and dispatch the rescue team to Ghazni."
The agents scattered to handle their assigned tasks, and Section Chief Choi picked up the phone to request vehicle cooperation from the U.S. military to send the special forces and the NIS special team to Ghazni.
"Section Chief, are you requesting vehicle cooperation from the U.S. military?"
"Yes."
"You can't. The Ghazni region is too remote, so using U.S. military vehicles will make us stand out too much. It would be better for the operation to secure local vehicles for transport."
"Understood. I will do as you say."
The Ghazni region was about five hours away from Bagram Airfield, so the NIS decided to split the rescue team into several vehicles, opting to use local trucks and passenger cars. Since the medium-altitude drone was already flying over the kidnapped area, it moved to the airspace above Kalay village in 30 minutes, and since it was daytime, the villagers could be observed moving about.
Section Chief Choi, just in case, asked the Starlink Aviation staff, "Is there anything being picked up?"
"Other than people who appear to be locals, we don't see anything. Please wait a moment."
The Starlink Aviation employee operating the drone immediately switched the electro-optical camera to infrared mode. Then, heat-emitting objects became visible, and the movement of people and vehicles could be observed.
"Do you know how many hostages there are?"
"They say the hostages were divided into three or four groups, but it's possible that at least five or more are gathered together."
At Section Chief Choi's response, the Starlink Aviation employee connected the terminal he was looking at to another linked screen and asked for Section Chief Choi's cooperation. "Please help me; it's better than me looking alone. You just need to find places where objects presumed to be people are gathered."
Section Chief Choi called the surrounding agents to start finding places where people were gathered. The agents found the spots where heat sources were concentrated on the large screen, and one agent shouted, "Section Chief! There is a heat source in the middle of the village that shows no movement."
As the agent pointed to the location presumed to be where the hostages were, the Starlink Aviation employee lowered the drone's altitude and zoomed in on the location.
"There are about six people there, but there's no movement at all."
Section Chief Choi brought a satellite photo and drew a red circle with a pen around the suspected house where the hostages were. "Please check other places too, just in case."
The Starlink Aviation employee illuminated other parts of the village again, and there were no other places where people were gathered besides the previous location. Section Chief Choi asked to save the screen he had just filmed as a file, instructed the agents to look at the saved file once more, and moved the drone to another nearby village.
While the drone was moving, Section Chief Choi picked up the phone to report to South Korea. "Director! We found six people presumed to be hostages in the village of Arizo Kalay."
[What about the other hostages?]
"I plan to search the nearby villages using the drone."
[Are you planning to start the rescue immediately?]
"No. Because we don't know the location of the other hostages, it's too dangerous to launch a rescue operation. For now, I will move the rescue team nearby and just have them prepare."
[Understood. Contact me if any other information comes in.]
After hanging up, Section Chief Choi checked the drone's position and the distance to the other villages. The Starlink Aviation employee searched the other villages in the same way as before, and when he couldn't confirm any locations where heat sources were gathered, he moved the drone's position to another village.
The NIS negotiation team heard the news that one location of the hostages had been discovered and headed to the meeting place with the religious leader they were scheduled to meet today.
"Salam Alaikum!"
Accompanied by an agent who spoke the Pashto language of Afghanistan, the NIS negotiation team exchanged simple greetings with the religious leader and immediately entered into negotiations. "Among the Taliban's demands, we will withdraw the stationed South Korean troops by the end of the year. However, the release of the Taliban prisoners is a difficult situation."
"The Taliban are demanding the release of all their colleagues."
"The South Korean government requested the release of the Taliban from the Afghan government, but the Afghan government is not listening to our demands. South Korea does not have the powerful national strength like the United States, so we cannot move the President of Afghanistan. Is there any other way besides releasing the Taliban? We can pay cash in exchange for their release."
"Actually, I spoke with the Taliban side before coming here, and I couldn't hear any answer other than the release of the Taliban prisoners."
"Just in case, please propose to the Taliban side that we will give them cash in exchange for their release, in addition to the release of the Taliban prisoners."
"Understood. I will pray to Allah for the release of the South Korean hostages."
The negotiation team, having met the religious leader without any results, immediately called the operation headquarters to report that there was no progress. Section Chief Choi, unable to obtain any information even with the drone, anxiously checked with the agents who had gone on an operation with locals in Ghazni Province for additional information.
They failed to release the Taliban in Afghan prisons by the day demanded by the Taliban, and the Taliban announced that they had executed a hostage, threatening that if there was no release within five days, they would execute another hostage.
Information came in through local police that there was a corpse appearing to be an Asian near the highway to Ghazni Province, so Section Chief Choi dispatched an agent immediately. Section Chief Choi, who was connected by phone to the dispatched agent, asked a question immediately.
"Is it the hostage?"
"Yes. It is a South Korean."
"Who is it?"
"It appears to be the pastor who led the mission group."
"Is there any information on the corpse that could pinpoint the location?"
"It's the clothing from when they were kidnapped, and there are no personal belongings. Seeing that the execution was carried out directly near the highway, it is presumed to be nearby."
Section Chief Choi placed the satellite photo and the local map, drew red circles with a red pen on the location of the corpse and the village presumed to be where the hostages were, and ordered the drone to move to the village located in the middle. While the drone was moving, Section Chief Choi, who had moistened his throat with water, heard the ringing phone and, knowing the caller was Representative Kim of Starlink, answered immediately.
"Representative, is there any additional information?"
"Thank you. You have been a huge help."
After ending the call, Section Chief Choi sent the drone to Ajirestan to begin the search. "Everyone, gather! Information has come in on the location where the other hostages are currently being held. One place is Ajirestan village, and the other is the nearby mountain."
"Shall we send the rescue team?"
"Send the rescue team nearby for now! We don't know the exact location yet, so we need additional confirmation! We can confirm the hostages in the village through the drone, but there is no way to confirm the location of the hostages on the nearby mountain. Everyone, come up with ideas!"
"Section Chief. If it's a mountain, it's definitely presumed to be a cave; how about inquiring with the locals about the location of the caves on the mountain in Ajirestan village?"
"Good. Tell the agents who went out to Ghazni Province to find that information!"