Relatives of freed South Korea hostages apologize

SEOUL (Reuters) - Family members of two South Korean hostages freed by the Taliban on Monday wept and apologized for the ordeal, saying they would continue a vigil with the relatives of those still held captive.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry and the International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed on Monday that Kim Kyung-ja, 37, and Kim Ji-na, 32, had been released after nearly a month in captivity and were in South Korean custody.

"Our hearts are heavy because there are still those who remain," Kim Ji-na's brother, Ji-ung, told reporters after receiving word of the release from government officials.

"We will be here until we can all go home with joy," he said at a church office where the relatives of the hostages have been keeping vigil.

Taliban insurgents last month kidnapped the group of 23 South Koreans, almost all young women, sent by a Christian church in suburban Seoul to do relief work in Afghanistan.

Two of the male hostages have been killed.

"We are so sorry to the government and to the (South Korean) people for causing so many worries," Kim Kyung-ja's brother, Kyung-shik, said.

The Christian group has been criticized for going to Afghanistan against government advice.

A spokesman for the hostages' relatives said the two women were in relatively good health. The Taliban had said earlier the two would be freed because they were ill.

Kim Kyung-ja, a graduate student in social work, had been suffering respiratory problems, her brother said. Kim Ji-na, a college animation instructor, had lower back pain.

"Two people have come back as dead bodies, and two are released because they are sick," Kim Ji-na's mother, Sun Yun-ja, said, fighting back tears. "I am so sorry to the families of the 19 remaining."