SOUTH KOREA:As the South Korean hostages held by Afghan rebels begin a third week of incarceration the crisis is causing a new outpouring of anti-American sentiment in Seoul and reshaping the political debate in the run- up to presidential elections.
Over the past fortnight the nation has swung between despair over the Christian aid workers' plight at the hands of the Taliban and anger that they went to such a dangerous country in the first place.
Now, with the realisation that their government has no power to meet the Taliban's demands - to swap the hostages for militants held by the Afghan government - many South Koreans are blaming the US for the "war on terror" and for failing to act to free the hostages.
The widely-held belief is that if Washington, Seoul's military ally, gave its approval to President Hamid Karzai's government, the trade could take place.
Hundreds of young Koreans held candle-lit protests outside the US embassy in Seoul this week. Some wore white masks, marked with red tears, and carried placards with messages such as: "Americans = human beings; Koreans = flies".
Amid increasingly frenetic campaigning ahead of the December presidential election in South Korea, some candidates have been seeking to capitalise on this mood. "Koreans believe that, since this crisis is a part of the war on terror, the US is the main party and not a third party," Chung Dong-young, a former leader of the ruling party, wrote in a letter to President Bush.
Politicians are not alone in seeking to exploit the situation to further their own causes. The conservative newspaper Chosun Ilbo ran an editorial this week comparing Mr Roh's government to the Taliban because of its plans to close down reporters' rooms inside ministries. The move is intended to create greater transparency and limit the cartel-like behaviour of Korean reporters.
"At this critical moment, when the eyes of all Koreans are watching the government, it is busy merging media briefing rooms to block journalists' access to government officials," the paper said in an editorial. "This administration is trying to push journalists out into the streets . . . The Taliban do not exist only in Afghanistan."
Twenty-three South Koreans, 18 of them women, were taken hostage by the Taliban in Ghazni province on July 19th. One of them, Bae Hyung-kyu (42), was killed six days later. Another, Shim Sung-min (29), was found dead shortly afterwards. The Taliban want the withdrawal of South Korean troops from Afghanistan and the release of their militants from prison.