The Taliban said Afghanistan and South Korea can mutually benefit from the war-torn country鈥檚 untapped mineral fields as the group seeks to strengthen economic ties with the East Asian nation reputed for its electronics industry.
鈥淎fghanistan is replete with untapped mineral resources...Korea as a leading world manufacturer of electronics can work with our country based on mutual interests, where we can also serve as an economic corridor connecting South and Central Asian countries,鈥� Abdul Qahar Balkhi said in an interview with South Korea鈥檚 Yonhap News Agency.
Balkhi, a fluent English speaker, is a member of the Taliban's Cultural Commission.
Afghanistan is rich in resources like copper, gold, oil, natural gas, uranium, bauxite, coal, iron ore, rare earths, lithium, chromium, lead, zinc, gemstones, talc, sulfur, travertine, gypsum and marble which remain unexplored due to the 20-year-long war after the US invaded the country in 2001.
The statement came amid Seoul鈥檚 efforts to evacuate some Afghans from Kabul.
South Korea鈥檚 National Security Adviser Suh Hoon told parliament that Seoul was 鈥渃onsidering various options to provide refuge to Afghans who worked with South Koreans in Kabul, including the possibility of bringing them to Seoul.鈥�
鈥淲e perceive this as a problem and have a national obligation to provide them with a safe haven. We are considering measures, including the option of transporting them here,鈥� said Hoon.
Urging Seoul to 鈥渓ook to the future and not live in the past,鈥� Balkhi said the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan hopes 鈥渘ot only to be recognized by [South] Korea but the entire world at large as the legitimate representative government of the people of Afghanistan, who have gained their right of self-determination from a foreign occupation.鈥�
He added that the Taliban would 鈥渁bsolutely like to meet with the leaders and businessmen of Korea and strengthen both economic and people-to-people relations between both peoples and countries.鈥�
In the past 20 years, South Korea has carried out various humanitarian projects, including building a general hospital in Afghanistan, the country鈥檚 Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong told South Korean lawmakers.
鈥淭here are a number of Afghans who participated or provided support in the process. The government [therefore] is mulling various ways over the option of bringing them safely to our country [if they want to come to South Korea],鈥� he added.
Earlier, he revealed that the US had asked Seoul about using its military bases in South Korea 鈥渁s a housing site for evacuees from war-torn Afghanistan.鈥�
鈥淚t is true that [the allies] did discuss the possibility at the very basic level. It, however, was not discussed seriously,鈥� Chung asserted.
鈥淐urrently, however, there's no such discussion underway at all,鈥� he added.
The US has had 28,500 of its soldiers deployed in South Korea since the 1950s inter-Korean war.
By Riyaz ul Khaliq
Anadolu Ajans谋
energy@aa.com.tr