Taleban militants threatened to kill a group of South Korean Christians yesterday unless their country withdrew its personnel from Afghanistan.

The Koreans were seized at gunpoint as they travelled by bus from Kabul, the capital, to the southern city of Kandahar, where their church, known for its evangelical zeal, said that they would work in a hospital.

The Taleban forbid Christians from entering Afghanistan to convert Muslims, under threat of death. Yesterday Sayed Murard Shrifi, a religious cleric who is head of the public court in Baghlan, said: “In terms of punishment the one who comes to a Muslim country to convert people to their religion must face the strongest punishment. The first choice is death and the second life in prison.”

The party of 23 Koreans is believed to include 18 women and is the largest group of foreigners to have been kidnapped in the militant campaign to oust the Afghan Government and its Western backers. The incident, which took place about 170km (100 miles) south of Kabul, comes after the kidnapping of two Germans and five Afghan workers, who were involved in a dam project in the province of Wardak, which borders Kabul, on Wednesday.

South Korea has no combat troops in Afghanistan but has a contingent of 200 engineers, doctors and medical staff.

Joseph Park, mission director of the Christian Council of Korea, said: “They are young Korean Christians who were engaged in short-term evangelistic activity and service for children in Kandahar. We cannot turn away from poor people and children there just because of safety risks.”

Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a Taleban spokesman, told The Times that his rebels had carried out the ambush. Speaking via satellite phone from an undisclosed location, he said: “It is not my decision what will happen to them now, it is in the hands of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Right now they are safe though.”

He also claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of the Germans and five Afghan workers. He said that they would be freed only if the German Government pulled its 3,000 troops from the country and all Taleban prisoners were released.

Last summer 1,200 Korean Christians, including many children, arrived in Kabul for a peace parade through the city streets. They were deported amid fears for their safety and the parade never took place.

News of the kidnapping was met with dismay in South Korea, where people are as passionate about religion as they are about nationalism — given to very public displays of fervour and zealous commitment. Even on working days the largest churches attract more than 10,000 worshippers.

South Korea sends about 1,000 missionaries overseas each year, often to parts of the world where the chan-ces of conversion are slim, such as the Middle East, and the risks of persecution and attack are high. Many talk about their desire to become martyrs on behalf of the Church.

South Korean Christianity is extremely visible in its worship: the night sky of Seoul and other large cities is peppered with red neon crosses blazing from the steeples of churches.

The evangelistic Christian movement in South Korea is vigorous, bordering on the fevered. It began in the 19th century, when American missionaries arrived in a politically very weak country, but with a strong national identity. It is now the most protestant country in Asia.

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