Pilgrims' peril: Korean Christians in Afghanistan

The strange saga of South Korean Christians in Afghanistan continues. Late yesterday came word that a bus full of Korean pilgrims had been hijacked south of Kabul.

A Korean embassy official said a search operation and also negotiations were under way with the kidnappers, who were demanding the release of Taliban prisoners held in Afghan jails. The Taliban said they had seized 18 Koreans.

What precisely the Koreans were up to remains murky. Some accounts describe their mission as delivering aid but others describe it as an "evangelical" trip. A year ago, dozens of Korean pilgrims created a minor crisis for Hamid Karzai when they attempted to land in Kabul to participate in a peace festival. Outraged clerics accused the Koreans of proselytizing and demanded their expulsion.

Promoting religious choice in Afghanistan is laudable, but in this case common sense should have prevailed.