Click to play videoSeoul: Amnesty International has appealed to Taliban for the release of 21 south Korean hostages.
And as the hostage standoff enters its third week, it is clear that help is also needed from less divine sources.
The South Korean government says it is in direct and indirect contact with the Taliban.
Says Ho-Cheeng Yung of South Korean Foreign Ministry, “Our ultimate goal is to convey the fact that our government is limited in its ability to meet their demand to free prisoners from Afghan jails.
However, when asked if a ransom could be considered, the spokesman would not rule out the possibility.
“I don't think it is good to limit ourselves to circumstances that might change," he said.
South Korea strongly denies any money has been paid to the kidnappers, but with two hostages killed and the rest reportedly in poor health, some in this affluent country might be open to such a move.
It doesn't set a good precedent, says a Seoul citizen. “But if that would bring them back home, I think we can't ignore that option,” says Yung.
But so far Taliban demands have focused on the release of prisoners and it is far from certain that such an approach would pay off.
Says Derek Mitchell of Centre for strategic and international studies, “I have the sense that if they take the money that would be seen as a defeat for the Taliban because that doesn't sow any kind of dissension, it doesn't sow any kind of fear it shows that it can be bought off.”
But each day without progress is another agonising one for their family members.
For the sake of the children that you love so much, says this man, as he reads a letter he wrote to his wife in captivity- “Keep strong, and come back to us,”
But while the South Korean government is doing what it can, many people here say help needs to come from the United States as well.
Which is why so many prayers and vigils are being held in the vicinity of the US Embassy.
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