SBS Star

Inside the 28-Day Secret Negotiation Behind the Afghan Hostage Crisis on 'Tails of Tales'

star@sbs.co.kr(SBS Star) — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 06:48:00 +0900

The "Sunglasses Man" who safely released all hostages.

On the August 20 broadcast of SBS's "Tails of Tales", the show tracked the Afghan hostage crisis that served as the motif for the film "The Point Men" under the subtitle "Sunglasses Man - First Release! 28 Days of Top-Secret Negotiations".

In the summer of 2007, 23 South Koreans were taken hostage by the Taliban in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan. At the time, Afghanistan was one of the most dangerous countries in the world.

The Taliban made an unreasonable demand to exchange the hostages for a Taliban commander named Tarokhan, and when this was not accepted, they even killed two of the hostages.

With 21 hostages held captive in the largest-scale kidnapping event in South Korean history, President Roh Moo-hyun issued a national address. The announcement that all South Korean citizens would be rescued was also a message directed at the Taliban.

Meanwhile, the government found a negotiator with the optimal qualifications for the nail-biting standoff. He was the "Sunglasses Man", a secret National Intelligence Service agent fluent in English, Iranian, and Afghanistan's Pashto language.

South Korea's top black ops agent entered into top-secret negotiations with the Taliban. With the goal of rescuing all 21 hostages, he established a negotiation channel with the head of the Taliban and began talks.

Two hostages were rescued during the first round of negotiations, but subsequent talks progressed slowly, and the Taliban continued their unreasonable demands.

In response, the South Korean government even prepared military operations to prepare for the worst-case scenario—a military operation where casualties among soldiers as well as hostages could not be avoided.

However, just as military operations were being prepared in secret, signs of hostages being transported covertly were captured. This was a golden opportunity to rescue the kidnapped victims.

The former commander in charge of the military operation carried out the operation with the thought, "My only mission is to protect the hostages." However, the trucks thought to be transporting hostages were filled only with logs.

And at that moment, news came that negotiations had resumed. The "Sunglasses Man" requested a revision of the negotiation terms from the Taliban. He pressured the Taliban, stating, "If there are additional killings, there will be no more peaceful negotiations. We will launch a military attack," and adding, "We will launch an attack you cannot even imagine. You could be wiped out."

In response, the Taliban took a step back. Ahead of the final agreement with the Taliban, the Taliban and South Korea exchanged negotiation terms.

The Taliban side put forward the conditions that South Korea withdraw its troops stationed in Afghanistan within the year, South Korea withdraw non-governmental organization personnel within Afghanistan by the end of the month, and South Korea ban the entry and activities of South Korean Christian missionary groups in Afghanistan.

South Korea decided to accept these conditions. In return, South Korea set the conditions that the Taliban abandon their demand for the release of prisoners and that the Taliban suspend attacks until the South Korean troops withdraw.

Thus, after about 40 days, both sides agreed on the release of all kidnapped victims. However, right after the negotiations ended, the Taliban side demanded an additional condition: they wanted a joint interview with a South Korean representative.

At the time, the Taliban, who wanted to show off their power to the world and gain recognition as a national organization, threatened to kill hostages once again. In response, South Korea accepted the joint interview.

And the "Sunglasses Man" stepped up as the representative for the joint interview to prevent horrific additional killings. Having lived disguised as a black agent, he took the risk of exposing his identity by wearing sunglasses to participate in the joint interview.

And so, negotiations were dramatically concluded in 28 days. After the joint interview, global media focused on the "Sunglasses Man".

However, the "Sunglasses Man" could not simply rejoice. Burdened by continued concerns over the safe release of all hostages and worries about his path as an agent, he had no choice but to shed tears behind the scenes of the negotiation venue.

Thanks to his efforts, however, the hostages were released sequentially. And 43 days after the kidnapping, all hostages were safely released. The hostages safely returned to the arms of their families, and thanks to that, the "Sunglasses Man" also returned to the arms of his family.

Following the joint interview, the "Sunglasses Man" safely retired despite various difficulties and is currently devoting himself to nurturing younger generations.

Finally, the broadcast evoked deep empathy by stating that children returning from school, parents returning from work, and everyone returning safely from ordinary daily life without getting hurt—making that a given is likely the primary duty of a nation.

※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.

SBS Star

Inside the 28-Day Secret Negotiation Behind the Afghan Hostage Crisis on 'Tails of Tales'

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