Kkokkomu Spotlights "Sunglasses Man," the Secret Agent Who Led 28 Days of Top-Secret Negotiations in the Afghan Hostage Crisis

The "Sunglasses Man" Who Safely Released All Hostages

SBS's "Tail of the Tail That Bites That Day" (hereafter "Tails of Tales"), which aired on the 20th, tracked the Afghan hostage crisis—which served as the motif for the movie "The Point Men"—under the subtitle "Sunglasses Man: Revealed for the First Time! 28 Days of Top-Secret Negotiations."

In the summer of 2007, 23 South Koreans were kidnapped 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 rejected, they even killed two of the hostages.

With 21 hostages still held captive in the largest abduction case in South Korean history, President Roh Moo-hyun issued a special address to the nation. 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: the National Intelligence Service's secret agent known as the "Sunglasses Man," who was fluent in English, Iranian, and Afghanistan's Pashto language.

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

Although two hostages were rescued during the first round of negotiations, subsequent talks progressed slowly, and the Taliban continued to make unreasonable demands.

In response, the South Korean government prepared even for a military operation in case of a worst-case scenario—a military operation where casualties among not only the hostages but also soldiers would be inevitable.

However, just as the military operation was being secretly prepared, what appeared to be hostages being transported covertly was detected. This was a golden opportunity to rescue the abductees.

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

Around that time, news broke that negotiations had resumed. The "Sunglasses Man" asked the Taliban to revise the terms of negotiation. He pressured the Taliban, warning, "If there are any additional killings, there will be no more peaceful negotiations. We will launch a military attack," and adding, "We will launch an unimaginable attack. You could be wiped out."

Faced with this, the Taliban backed down. Ahead of the final agreement with the Taliban, the Taliban and South Korea exchanged negotiation terms.

The Taliban side put forward conditions stating, "South Korea will withdraw its troops stationed in Afghanistan within the year. South Korea will withdraw non-governmental organization personnel within Afghanistan within this month. South Korea will ban South Korean Christian missionary groups from entering and operating in Afghanistan."

South Korea decided to accept these terms. In return, South Korea set conditions specifying, "The Taliban drops its demand for the release of prisoners. The Taliban suspends attacks until the South Korean military withdraws."

Thus, after about 40 days, both sides agreed to release all abductees. However, just as the negotiations concluded, the Taliban side made an additional demand: they wanted a joint interview with a South Korean representative.

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

To prevent a horrific additional murder, the "Sunglasses Man" stepped up as the representative for the joint interview. Having lived his life disguised as a black ops agent, he undertook the joint interview wearing sunglasses, despite the risk of exposing his identity.

And so, negotiations were dramatically concluded after 28 days. Following the joint interview, the global media turned its attention to the "Sunglasses Man."

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

Yet, thanks to his efforts, the hostages were released sequentially. Finally, 43 days after the abduction, all hostages were safely released. As the hostages returned safely to the arms of their families, the "Sunglasses Man" also returned to the embrace of his own family.

Following the joint interview, despite various hardships, the "Sunglasses Man" successfully retired after reaching retirement age and is currently dedicating himself to fostering future generations.

Concluding the broadcast, the program resonated with viewers by stating that ensuring children return safely from school, parents return safely from work, and no one is hurt while returning safely from ordinary daily life—making these things a given—is likely the primary duty of a state.

(Photo: Yonhap News / Reported by Hyojung Kim)

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