|
|
U.S. Navy analyst charged with spying for South Korea
September 25, 1996
Web posted at: 4:30 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A civilian computer expert working for U.S. Naval intelligence was charged Wednesday with passing at least 50 classified documents to his native South Korea.
Robert Chaegon Kim, 56, was arrested Tuesday night at Fort Myer, Virginia, while attending an Armed Forces Day reception sponsored by the South Korean Embassy, officials said.
According to an affidavit released in U.S. District Court, Kim supplied classified documents, many with "secret" or "top secret" designations, to Baek Dong-Il, a naval attaché for the South Korean government.
Kim also is accused of giving South Korea "above top-secret" documents containing political and military intelligence about North Korea and other Asian-Pacific nations.
He faces a 10-year prison sentence if convicted. Prosecutors are considering filing additional espionage charges, which carry life imprisonment penalties.
Agents foil scheme
The FBI said it came across the scheme while agents were tracking Baek, whom agents suspected of being an intelligence agent.
Clandestine meetings between Baek and Kim were soon discovered, and authorities began an intense surveillance of Kim, the FBI said.
Federal agents videotaped Kim at his work space, listened to his phone conversations, searched his home and monitored his mail.
Authorities said a search of Kim's workplace revealed a letter from Kim to Baek in which he stated he hoped Baek had digested "the materials I have sent you." He cautioned, "Please be careful with those materials." The affidavit said that, in another letter to Baek, Kim offered to spy for South Korea, a U.S. ally.
A native of South Korea, Kim became a U.S. citizen in 1974, and began working for the Office of Naval Intelligence in 1978, court papers said. Kim worked on a computer system that gave him access to top-secret documents generated by other U.S. intelligence-gathering agencies.
The affidavit contends Kim regularly searched the computer system to find classified documents relating to military, political and intelligence matters in the Asia- Pacific region.
Kim then stored the documents on his computer, removed the "classified" markings, printed them and mailed or delivered them in person to Baek between May and September this year, the affidavit alleges.
The affidavit did not say whether Kim was paid or what Baek intended to do with the documents. It is also unclear what year the alleged espionage scheme began.
Kim was employed by the same Navy intelligence center in Suitland, Maryland, that employed Jonathan Pollard, a former civilian Navy intelligence analyst who is serving a life prison term for spying for Israel.
Christopher 'disturbed' by scheme
Secretary of State Warren Christopher said the news of the arrest and its implications "disturbed" him.
"I've been very disturbed by the reports that I have received of that arrest and the incident itself. We've been in touch with the South Korean officials about it because this is a matter that's an on-going criminal investigation," he said.
The secretary of state met with the South Korean foreign minister earlier Wednesday, but Christopher said the espionage case was not discussed.
Correspondent Kathleen Koch and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
|
Tell us what you think! You said it... |
|
|
© 1996 Cable News Network, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.