A South Korean woman held hostage with 21 others in Afghanistan has pleaded for help to secure their release.

The woman, who identified herself as Yo Syun Ju, told an Afghan reporter by telephone all the hostages were sick.

"Tell them to do something to get us released," she said in an interview carried out in the presence of the Taleban militants holding her captive.

A group of 23 Koreans was abducted a week ago. The kidnappers have since killed one of the hostages.

In an interview obtained by the BBC from an Afghan journalist, Ms Yo, who said she was from Seoul, described her situation as "dangerous", adding: "Day by day it is getting very difficult...

"We are all sick and we have a lot of problems."

'Inhumane act'

The Koreans - most of them women - are members of a Christian group doing aid work.

On Wednesday, the body of one of the hostages - later identified as 42-year-old pastor Bae Hyung-kyu - was found with multiple bullet wounds in Ghazni province, south-west of the capital Kabul.

The office of South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun condemned the killing as an "inhumane act".

The Seoul government has sent an envoy to Afghanistan to negotiate the remaining hostages' release.

The Koreans were abducted in Ghazni one week ago and the Taleban have threatened to kill them if the Afghan government refused to meet their demands.

PHOTO CAPTION

A Korean man hangs a picture of Bae Hyung-kyu, who was killed on Wednesday