Platform

Robert C. Kim, a civilian analyst for the U.S. Naval Intelligence Office, was charged last month with passing more than 50 top-secret, classified documents to the South Korean government. Kim, 56, immigrated to the U.S. from Seoul and became a naturalized citizen in 1974. Government sources said Kim, who began working as a Navy analyst in 1979, was not paid for turning over the secret records, many of which directly related to the two Koreas and other Asia-Pacific countries. For some Korean Americans, Kim’s arrest raises the issue of stereotypes and the question of immigrants’ loyalty to the United States. LUCILLE RENWICK spoke to Korean community leaders about the impact Kim’s arrest has had on the community.

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K.S. PARK

Staff attorney, Korean Immigrant Workers Advocate, Los Angeles

When I heard the reports, there was nothing about how sensitive the information transmitted was, so I feel that it must not have been that sensitive. And also it was just a one-time act; it’s not like he was a spy who’s worked like this for a long time. So I feel like he might’ve done a favor for an old friend.

Some folks in the Korean community think that it’s not a big deal because espionage goes on everywhere and that it’s really hard to calculate this act as espionage. People are basically saying that he must not have intended any harm. He offered the information to people who know him and also he did not receive any money for the information. He was an honest person, at least that’s how he is perceived by folks in the Korean community. It’s not like he’s had a track record of sorting out things and giving them to the Korean Army.

In considering the gravity of the matter, you should take into consideration the fact that the U.S. has a large military base in South Korea and has access to the most sensitive information about the Korean military and government.

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MARCIA CHOO

Executive director, Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center, Los Angeles

It sort of makes me cringe inside when I hear this because, once again, this is one issue that gets highlighted and it’s in a negative light and it could be damanging. It feeds into the stereotype some people have of foreigners who don’t have an allegiance to this country and don’t know how to be loyal Americans. It helps feed into the immigrant-bashing argument.

Unfortunately, this story doesn’t get lost in the balance of positive Asian images. As people of color, we have the burden of representation; we always have to be good ambassadors. If I mess up, that’s representative of the Korean community.

We don’t get lost in the mix of regular news. We get highlighted and have to pay a special price for our ethnicity.

In the scheme of things, this may be nothing and he may be acquitted. I think if he did what he’s accused of then he should be punished for the crime like everybody else. If this is against the law, then it’s against the law. I will be concerned if it gets racialized and he gets singled out for special punishment and he gets singled out as an example. That’s when I’ll get concerned.

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CHARLES KIM

Executive director, Korean American Coalition, Los Angeles

As a Korean American, in a way it’s kind of embarrassing for this to happen. But I don’t think it was an orchestrated Korean government activity. Maybe Robert Kim happened to know someone from Korea and told them some information. It’s not like other spying cases when you get money.

It is unfortunate if this worsens relationships between South Korea and the U.S. But I think people see this as an individual activity and not as a Korean activity. So how can all Koreans be responsible for one person’s mistake?

Even though this happened, I can proudly say that you can hardly find Koreans in jail and hardly find Korean faces when there are crimes committed. So this doesn’t happen a lot in the Korean community.

But people don’t want the Korean community to be considered like Robert Kim. Some people already are making some jokes. People ask if he is my cousin because we have the same last name. There are millions of people in this country named Kim; can we all be cousins?

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SAMMY LEE

Two-time U.S. Olympic gold medalist for platform diving, Santa Ana

I heard about it and I said ‘Geez, what a jerk.’ At first, I didn’t realize that he was Korean American.

I’m surprised and disappointed that someone would [allegedly] spy for Korea or for any other country when this is their home country.

As an Olympian and an American, I’m disappointed that he might spy like that.

Unfortunately, the general public looks at minorities and when there’s anything negative, they tend to make a stereotype of the entire community.

I felt he brought dishonor on the Korean community. After all, he was in a position of responsibility.

If he was a good citizen, then I just can’t believe that he could spy or give information. At least it wasn’t to an enemy; it was to South Korea. It’s like someone passing on information to Canada or to England. But morally, I think [if he did it] it was wrong. He put that little tint of suspicion from now on about how loyal people in the Korean community may be or how loyal he is.

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BETTY SONG

Senior, UCLA, lives in Westwood

When I read about it, the article mentioned other countries that were friendly to the United States where the same things happened. So I wasn’t surprised.

Some people have the idea that Asian Americans fit into the model minority myth and Korean Americans are part of that. So people may believe that this was just an isolated incident. Or they may go in the opposite direction and say that they’ve lost their trust in that model minority.

I don’t think people in the Korean community are surprised that this would happen. But I don’t get the sense that they fear a negative impact.

The people on campus who know about this said they weren’t surprised. It’s just the nature of government. It’s no different from what happened in Israel or other ally countries who were spying. Once they find out what context it was done in, he should be judged on that. I hope they judge him on the circumstance and not who he is, because he’s Asian versus someone who is European.