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Two women among the 23 South Koreans kidnapped by the Taliban in mid-July were freed Monday on a rural Afghan roadside and then driven to a U.S. base, the first significant breakthrough in a hostage drama now more than three weeks old.

The two women, who broke into tears after seeing the international Red Cross officials there to take custody of them, got out of a dark gray Toyota Corolla driven by an Afghan elder and into one of two waiting Red Cross SUVs. The women said nothing to reporters alerted to the handoff location five miles southeast of Ghazni city by a Taliban spokesman.

Wearing scarves on their heads, khaki trousers and traditional Afghan knee-length shirts, the women were driven to the U.S. base in Ghazni city, where American soldiers searched them and then let them enter. Both carried bags.

The Taliban monsters are patting themselves on the back for their “gesture of good will.”

Now, they want their reward: “We are expecting the Korean people and government to force the Kabul administration and the U.S. to take a step toward releasing Taliban prisoners,” Ahmadi said by telephone from an undisclosed location.”

Appeasement begets appeasement. Will that lesson be remembered?

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Yonhap identifies the freed hostages: “Two of 21 South Koreans held hostage in Afghanistan have been released and moved to a safe area, a spokesman for the South Korean Foreign Ministry said Monday. The released hostages are Kim Gina, 32, and Kim Kyung-ja, 37, ministry spokesman Cho Hee-yong told reporters.”

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