[Opinion] Robert Kim

He has been imprisoned in a U.S. federal penitentiary house for 7 years after found guilty on an espionage charge. 63-year-old Robert Kim or Kim Chae-gon was sentenced 9 years after caught handing over confidential information of the U.S. government to his homeland. He is now due for a release on July this year with his term mitigated by 15%. Even after the release, however, he will have to stay within the U.S. over the next three years on probation. The best way to bring the old man to his home country is getting a pardon from the U.S. government. But the hope remains so elusive.

Robert Kim case has often been compared to the espionage incident involving Jewish American Jonathan Pollard. Pollard, who was working for the Office of Naval Intelligence like Kim, was sentenced to life in prison after found guilty on a charge that he sent some 1,000 satellite-images of military facilities in the Middle East to a diplomat at the Israeli Embassy to the U.S. While he was in prison, the Israeli Government and U.S.-based Jewish organizations fought for his release constantly. Former Israeli Prime Ministers asked for a pardon whenever they visited the U.S. for a summit. Thanks to all those efforts, then President Bill Clinton issued a pardon in February 2001 and Pollard was released finally.

In contrast, the Korean government has done little to get Robert Kim released. Although two groups, the `Robert Kim Aid Association` in the U.S. and the `Commission for Robert Kim`s Release` in Korea, and some lawmakers have worked for his release, the government has yet to take actions. There are no records showing that former presidents or those accompanying them mentioned the case at the time of summits. Earlier this year, Robert Kim himself sent a letter to then presidential elect Roh, asking him to seek a parole.

Baek Dong-il, former attaché in the navy who received confidential data from Kim at that time, revealed the details of the story, including how the two met and he received the data from Kim, in the May edition of monthly `New Dong-a.` He remembers Kim said, `Is this the reality of our espionage operations against the North? Then, I feel obliged to help you.` Baek said that `Mr. Kim became a victim for being patriotic,` adding emphatically `President Roh must ask for a parole during a summit with George W. Bush.` Kim hopes to open a shelter or a school for struggling teens when he returns to Korea. Getting him right back to the country and help him with the plan will be the least thing this country can do for Robert Kim, who fell a victim to his patriotism.