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A group of South Koreans who were held hostage in Afghanistan have attended the funeral of the leader of their group killed by Taleban militants.The 21 former hostages wept and prayed with hundreds of other mourners at Bae Hyung-kyu's funeral at their church in Seongnam, south of the capital, Seoul.He was one of two hostages killed days after they were seized on 19 July.The last of the group were released on 30 August amid reports that money was paid to secure their release.South Korean officials have repeatedly denied the reports.Last week, however, the country's intelligence chief Kim Man-bok admitted to a parliamentary committee that there were undisclosed terms involved in the deal with the Afghan rebels.He said the truth would be made public at some point.Wails and prayers
The group of 23 aid workers from the Presbyterian Saemmul Community Church were kidnapped from a bus on their way to the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.Pastor Bae, 42, was found dead on 26 July. The other hostage, Shim Sung-min, 29, was found dead on 31 July. Bae Hyung-kyu's body was returned to South Korea more than a month ago but his family delayed the funeral until all the remaining hostages had been released.At the funeral service, they wept, prayed and sang hymns, as video footage of Bae was shown."The fact that we can no longer be with him in this life is unbearable," the pastor's brother, Bae Shin-kyu, said on behalf of the family, before breaking down in tears."I hope the blood of my brother and Sung-min wasn't shed for nothing," he said."I hope their deaths weren't in vain." As part of the deal to secure the hostages' release, Seoul said it agreed to pull its troops out of Afghanistan as scheduled by the end of the year, and to stop missionaries travelling to Afghanistan.But there have been persistent media reports alleging that a multi-million dollar ransom was paid.A Taleban representative in Ghazni province, where the hostages were held, told the BBC the South Korean government paid $20m (£10m), but two other Taleban sources told the BBC no ransom was paid.Afghan officials have said a sum slightly under $1m (£500,000) was handed over.
As in the days of Noah...
