[LETTERS TO THE EDITOR]Loyalty to whom?

I am responding to the editorial “A Shame on Korea’s Record”(June 2). Are we to assume that Mr. Kim was a patriot and a victim? Give me a break! He was an American citizen who swore allegiance to his country, the United States, and betrayed it. I lived in Korea for many years and am married to a Korean, and therefore cannot be accused of being ignorant about the differences in both culture’s outlooks. It seems to me that common sense tells you that this man’s acts were nothing short of treason.
If I were to become a Korean citizen and then were to secretly pass classified Korean information to the United States, would Koreans view me as a patriot “of the county I love” and a victim of the Korean government? Perhaps America should exonerate all immigrants who become American citizens when they pass secret information to the nations of their nativity.
I remember asking a fellow Korean-Canadian employee where her loyalties rested: with Canada or Korea? She told me her first loyalty was to Korea. Tell me, what country would covet having a citizen who puts first loyalty with a county other than that of their citizenship? Would Koreans be pleased with such a citizen? If one cannot be totally loyal to the country of their adopted citizenship, they should not take an oath of loyalty to that nation and become a citizen.

by Michael Blais