Reports: Taliban was paid $2.46m for hostages

With the rest of the South Korean hostages home free, speculation has begun over whether Seoul paid a ransom for their release. South Korea has denied any payment, as has the Taliban. But this tells us precisely nothing, since if a ransom were paid, a non-disclosure clause would no doubt have been part of the agreement.

Asahi Shimbun, on the other hand, has quoted an unnamed Afghan mediator as saying that the release was secured for the curiously precise sum of $2.46 million. Seems plausible, since the other Korean concessions don't add up to much of value for the Taliban...