Campaign launched to win freedom for convicted U.S. spy

A signature-collection campaign will soon be launched as part of efforts to win the release of Robert Kim, a Korean-American serving a jail term in the United States on spy charges. The Committee for the Release of Robert Kim said Monday that it would collect signatures for Kim`s release during the general congress of the chairmen of Korean residents associations from around the world, which is to be held in Tokyo on March 14. It will also seek to obtain the signatures of ethnic Koreans around the world.

Ahn Yak-Chon, secretary general of the committee that has been leading efforts to win Kim`s release, said he would attend the gathering. The congress is sponsored by the pro-Seoul Korean residents` association in Japan, or ``Mindan.`` Ahn said that about 220 representatives of Korean residents` societies abroad, including 100 from the U.S., will participate in the meeting.

Meanwhile, a U.S. based committee to support Kim, whose Korean name is Kim Chae-Kwon, plans to picket in front of the Korean Embassy in Washington D.C. during President Kim Dae-Jung`s March 6-10 visit to the U.S. Committee co-chairman Chang Ki-Bong said he would send a petition to every National Assembly member asking them to join efforts to win Kim`s release. He also said the committee would send a letter to Cheong Wa Dae calling the Korean government to give its official position on the issue. An official of the Korean Embassy in Washington D.C. said it was totally up to President Kim as to whether he would raise the issue during his summit with U.S. President George W. Bush.

Kim has so far served four years of a nine-year sentence for delivering classified U.S. government information to Korean authorities while working as a computer information analyst in the U.S. Navy intelligence bureau in 1996.

Lee Jong-Hoon eligius@donga.com