South Korea and the Taliban have agreed to a deal that releases the 19 hostages being held in Afghanistan. South Korea agreed to remove their 200 troops in Afghanistan by year's end (which was already being planned), to stop sending missionaries to the country, and from what I've read from other news sources, they have agreed to pay some sort of ransom.
This is an odd move on the part of South Korea. South Koreans can be very aggressive when pursuing what they want. South Koreans also have a tendency to ignore you when you tell them they can't do something and go ahead and do it anyway. Plus they have that honor code and don't like to lose face. Seems to me they were passive, responsive, and shamed -- all uncharacteristic of South Koreans. Maybe they realized they were not the big fish in the Afghanistan pond. At least they got all but two of their citizens home alive.
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