By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
WASHINGTON –– A contract worker for the State Department has been indicted here on charges of unlawfully disclosing national defense information to a national news outlet, the Justice Department announced Friday.
Stephen Jin-Woo Kim, 43, was charged with leaking the information and lying to the FBI. The indictment was unsealed Friday.
The Associated Press reported that the leak was made to Fox News and it involved information about North Korea.
The Justice Department said Kim made his initial appearance Friday in U.S. District Court in Washington. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
The indictment alleges that in June 2009 Kim provided information to a reporter contained in an intelligence report classified Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI), the Justice Department said.
“The classified information related to the national defense, specifically, intelligence sources and methods and intelligence concerning the military capabilities and preparedness of a particular foreign nation,” according to a Justice Department press release.
The indictment alleges that in September 2009 Kim lied and told the FBI he had any contact with the reporter for a national news organization since meeting the reporter in March 2009. But the indictment claims had repeated contact.
“The willful disclosure of classified information to those not entitled to it is a serious crime. Today’s indictment should serve as a warning to anyone who is entrusted with sensitive national security information and would consider compromising it,” Assistant Attorney General David Kris said in a statement.
