Intelligence analyst sentenced for leak to journalist

WASHINGTON -- A federal judge yesterday sentenced a former State Department intelligence analyst on North Korea to 13 months in prison for passing classified information to a journalist.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said Stephen Kim's criminal act was "a very serious one" committed by a national security expert who lost his "moral compass."

"I take full responsibility," Kim said of his actions.

The case is the latest one brought to conclusion by the Obama administration over leaks of classified information. It stemmed from a June 2009 story by Fox News journalist James Rosen, who reported that U.S. intelligence officials warned the president and senior U.S. officials that North Korea would respond to a UN Security Council resolution condemning nuclear tests with another nuclear test.

Kim, 46, pleaded guilty to making an unauthorized disclosure of national defense information.

Federal prosecutor G. Michael Harvey said Kim's actions were "a danger to our troops and our Korean allies" along one of the most dangerous borders in the world.

Kim's attorney, Abbe Lowell, said Kim did not reveal the identities of any intelligence sources nor disclose any methods of intelligence gathering. --AP