[Opinion] Hostage Taking

Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington plays a role of desperate father in `John Q,` who is trying to save his little son dying of a heart disease. One day, he heard the news that his son Mike fell down during a baseball game. When he rushes to the hospital, he finds out that his little boy has little chance of surviving unless he undergoes a heart transplant operation right away. He tries to get money for the operation to no avail, and the poor father picks up a gun and enters the hospital. His demand is simple - put the name of my son in the waiting list! The police, however, ignore his demand and begin a rescue operation, drawing media and public attention.

▷Is John Q guilty or not guilty? When the movie was released, it soon sparked controversy over whether the father is guilty or not. And people sympathized with what Washington said in an interview - `John Q is guilty, but the father is not. If I were him, I would do the same.` We conjure up the image of cold-blooded terrorists when it comes to hostage taking. Yet, there are hostage-taking cases that provoke feeling of sympathy rather than dread. A domestic Internet site recently answered a question to its users `when do you feel so desperate that you think about taking people hostage?` Of the respondents, one replied `I might pretend to take my girlfriend’s parents as hostage if they stopped her from marrying me,`

▷What we witness today is far from evoking sympathy, however. When their demands are not taken seriously, hostage takers do not hesitate to further resort to violence and even kill their hostages. Hostage taking is a hideous crime in its nature since it plays a game with lives of innocent people. In recent years, some negotiators even have gained prominence by successfully dealing with hostage takers for release of hostages. They are most conspicuous in Equator, Columbia, Nigeria, Yemen and Chechen. Do we have to feel relieved that money can bring back the almost dead?

▷The incident that broke out in Moscow, Russia yesterday is further panicking people across the world who have already seen enough of terrorist and sniper attacks. Chechen insurgents armed with machine guns stormed a musical theater and held hundreds of people and actors inside as hostage. They are now demanding Russian soldiers withdraw from their country. For those people held as hostage and their families wishing their loved ones’ safe returns, it’s not difficult to imagine what they are going through, Chechens, on their part, will see the act as a patriotic uprising. Then, hostage taking, along with terrorist attacks and kidnappings, might never disappear as long as the mankind continues to exist.

Song Young-eon, Editorial Writer, youngeon@donga.com