South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun Monday instructed the government to exercise its right of indemnity against Korean hostages released after a six-week captivity in Afghanistan "within legally possible limits," the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said.
"Roh issued an instruction on the indemnity issue today. The president instructed his Cabinet to exercise the government's indemnity right on strictly legal grounds," South Korean news agency Yonhap quoted Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Cheon Ho-seon as saying.
Cheon said last week that the Korean government will exercise its right of indemnity to recoup all expenses spent to secure the hostages release, including the airfare of the hostages and fees incurred in transporting the bodies of the two slain hostages.
Asked to comment on successive foreign news reports about a possible ransom trade between Seoul and Afghanistan's Taliban captors, Cheon again denied any ransom payment by saying there is no secret agreement other than the already announced conditions for the hostages release, including withdrawal of Korean noncombat troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year and ban on entry of Koreans into the Central Asian nation for religious activities.
Source: Xinhua
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