hankyoreh

By Park Hyun, Washington correspondent

A nearly four-year legal battle wrapped up on Feb. 7 when Stephen Kim pled guilty to violating the US Espionage Act by leaking confidential information to a reporter.

Kim, a Korean-American, appeared before judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in federal court in Washington on Feb. 7 to plead guilty to the charges, which were first filed in August 2010.

Kim had reached a plea bargain deal with federal prosecutors, who agreed to a lighter sentence if he pled guilty. Prosecutors requested a sentence of 13 months, with a final sentencing decision set for Apr. 2.

Prosecutors indicted Kim on charges of leaking Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) intelligence to a Fox News reporter about North Korea’s plans to carry out an third nuclear test in response to a United Nations Security Council resolution sanctioning it for its second test. The leak occurred on Jun. 11, 2009, when Kim was working as a senior advisor for intelligence at the US State Department’s Bureau of Verification, Compliance and Implementation.

The charges carry a maximum sentence of 15 years.

Analysts said Kim appeared to have chosen to plead guilty after seeing public opinion turn against the authorities for their overzealous tactics during the legal battle, and deciding that it would be best to put the incident behind him as quickly as possible.

“It was the State versus a single individual, an uphill struggle to begin with. He took it on and did the best he could,” said Kim’s sister, attorney Yuri Lustenberger-Kim, in a statement.

“We had to make a difficult choice given that our resources are exhausted,” she added.

Kim’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, released a statement criticizing the investigators’ tactics.

“Faced with the draconian penalties of the Espionage Act, the tremendous resources that the federal government devoted to his case, and the prospect of a lengthy trial . . . Stephen decided to take responsibility for his actions and move forward with his life,” the statement said.

“Lower-level employees like Mr. Kim are prosecuted because they are easier targets or often lack the resources or political connections to fight back. High-level employees leak classified information to forward their agenda or to make an administration look good with impunity,” it continued.

Steven Aftergood, director of the Federation of American Scientists Project on Government Secrecy, told the Washington Post that many whistle blowers choose to plead guilty rather than go to trial because of the harsh penalties on divulging confidential information.

“Kim had the benefit of a vigorous and aggressive defense, but even that was not enough,” Aftergood said.

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