[Opinion] Robert Kim`s Petition

˝Was I a Korean spy? If I am going through what I am going through because I spied for the Korean government, pay due rewards for my families in return for this pain. If it is not the case, please tell the U.S. government I am not, so that I can be a free man with my conscience clean. It should be either way. I want freedom more than rewards,˝ cried out Robert Kim in his open letter to Korean government written in October 1999. He was at that time and is still serving his term in jail.

▷63-year-old Robert Kim, or Kim Chae-gon, became a citizen of America after studying there for years. Then he joined the U.S. Navy Intelligence Agency, where he worked for 20 years as a computer engineer before he got arrested by a federal agent in September 1996. He was charged with providing dozens of pieces of classified information about North Korea to the South Korean government in collusion with an official at the Korean Embassy to the U.S. He did it for his home country and there were no rewards. After nine years of a long trial process, he was sentenced to 9 years in prison and 3 years on probation. He is now serving his term in a federal penitentiary house. The Korean government, which collected information from Kim, however, has done nothing for him, insisting it had nothing to do with the case.

▷Jonathan Polard is a 49-year-old Jewish American born in the U.S. He was arrested back in 1985 on an espionage charge – he handed about 1,000 pieces of classified information to an Israeli intelligence agency as he worked for the U.S. Navy Intelligence Agency. The information includes satellite pictures of military facilities in the Middle East and names of U.S. agents operating in Israel, and he was rewarded $50,000 by Israelis for the crucial information. When he was sentenced to life in prison, the Israeli government made him an Israeli national and began openly lobbying for his release. Former president Bill Clinton, long pressed by the Israel government, even promised to reopen the case for further investigations.

▷Robert Kim recently sent a letter to president-elect Roh, saying the U.S. government would let him go if Roh asks for a release. He wrote that he wanted to be by his old father`s side at his last moment. His 89-year-old father fell ill in 1999 only a day before he was supposed to visit his son in jail. His doctor now says that he is not likely to live longer than a year due to complications from a stroke and dementia. ˝Whether I will be by his side at the last moment is God`s will. Still, I believe there must be a way, so I summoned up my courage to write a letter,” wrote the son. He is worrying and feeling sorry that he might not be there for his father when he is gone. A spokesman of Israeli Prime Minister said two years ago about Polard, ˝It is my moral obligation to fight for the man serving his country.˝ Hope we will be able to see someone who feels that kind of moral obligation for Robert Kim.

Mun Myeong-ho, Editorial Writer, munmh97@donga.com