Smart Common Input Method platform

I got SCIM through an Ubuntu system update.
Recently, I began having some problems, where the keyboard seemed to stop
working suddenly.
I started typing something and suddenly I can't type anymore, then it works
again, etc.
I noticed that the problem disappeared when I quit SCIM using its taskbar
icon.

However, when I quit SCIM, I usually also get a KDE error window and any
KDE app that I have currently open (usually yakuake) gets killed.

INFO:
system distribution: Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon
>uname -a
Linux my-laptop 2.6.20-9-generic #2 SMP Mon Feb 26 03:01:44 UTC 2007 i686
GNU/Linux

How I installed SCIM: Came automatically through a system update => binary
package
>dpkg -l scim
scim 1.4.6-1ubuntu2 smart common input method platform

Desktop environment: Gnome (but KDE also as secondary at login)
>dpkg -l gnome-desktop-data
gnome-desktop-data 1:2.19.2-0ubuntu2 Common files
for GNOME 2 desktop apps
>dpkg -l kdesktop
kdesktop 4:3.5.7-1ubuntu4 miscellaneous
binaries and files for the KDE desktop

>locale
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
LANGUAGE=en_US.UTF-8
LC_CTYPE="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_NUMERIC="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_TIME="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_COLLATE="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_MONETARY="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_MESSAGES="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_PAPER="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_NAME="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_ADDRESS="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_TELEPHONE="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_MEASUREMENT="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_IDENTIFICATION="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_ALL=

>echo $XMODIFIERS
@im=SCIM
>echo $GTK =>empty
>echo $IMMODULE =>empty

How I start SCIM: started automatically at startup