A spokesman of the militant group holding captive 21 South Korean citizens said on Thursday that direct talks between officials from South Korea and Taliban took place for the first time.

The Taliban representative reportedly spoke with South Korea’s ambassador in Afghanistan through the telephone, but no agreements were reached during this preliminary interview.

Negotiations with the Afghan authorities have been stopped for the moment, as Seoul pledged to try and convince the Kabul government and US officials to accept the Taliban demands and release the eight insurgents detained.

Taliban rebels reiterated that the only option is the release of their comrades and no other compromise solution will be considered. A strong offensive against the Taliban positions was rejected by both American and South Korean authorities, who said actions will continue only on a diplomatic plan.

“South Korea and the United States agreed to rule out any military operations,” South Korea’s Foreign Minister Song Min Soon said during a press conference held in Manila.

“I think the cooperation between South Korea and the United States in sharing information is going very well. The countries will continue to work to solve the hostage crisis at an early date and safely,” Song said.

A military operation was launched against insurgents in the same southern Ghazi province from which the South Korean’s were abducted, but Afghan officials denied that a mission to rescue the 21 persons had began.

Eighteen women and five men were kidnapped on July 19 in the Ghazi province while they were traveling towards Kandahar, the Taliban executing the group’s leader and another man.