Former CIA official indicted on charges of acting as agent for South Korea

Diplomacy

Published: 17 Jul. 2024, 09:19 Updated: 17 Jul. 2024, 19:05

Former CIA official indicted on charges of acting as agent for South Korea

Sue Mi Terry speaks at a conference at the Jeju Peace Forum held at the Jeju Convention Center on May 29. [YONHAP]

Sue Mi Terry, a former CIA employee and senior official at the U.S. National Security Council, has been indicted on charges of working as an unregistered agent for the South Korean government, according to the U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday.

Terry, who was born in Korea and raised in the United States, allegedly advocated South Korean policy positions, disclosed nonpublic U.S. government information to South Korean intelligence officers and facilitated access for South Korean government officials to their U.S. counterparts, according to the indictment document from the U.S. Justice Department obtained by the Korea JoongAng Daily.

She reportedly received luxury goods such as a Louis Vitton handbag worth $3,450, a Dolce and Gabbana coat worth about $3,000, a Bottega Veneta handbag worth $2,950, expensive dinners at high-end restaurants and more than $37,000 in funding for a public policy program that Terry ran.

South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said Wednesday that "U.S. and South Korean intelligence officials are in close communication" over Terry's indictment.

Terry's alleged activities as an agent for South Korea started in 2013 when she first met with an official from South Korea's NIS, according to the indictment. Multiple photographs of Terry meeting with NIS handlers were included in the indictment document.

Terry's activities continued for more than a decade, from the Park Geun-hye administration in 2013 to the Moon Jae-in administration and the current Yoon Suk Yeol administration.

In the indictment, prosecutors also pointed to Terry's activities on behalf of the South Korean government, including media articles and presentations that effectively represented the South Korean government's position. A notable recent example of such activities by Terry cited in the indictment was when NIS handlers allegedly told her that the South Korean government wished to create "a nuclear consultation group (NCG) with the United States," following which Terry wrote an article on Jan. 19. 2023 promoting the idea.

The NCG, first established in April 2023 to implement the Washington Declaration, is a bilateral consultative body to strengthen the South Korea-U.S. alliance and extended deterrence.

A photo of Sue Mi Terry, a former U.S. CIA analyst indicted by a New York grand jury on charges of secretly working as a South Korean government agent, allegedly meeting two agents of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) at a restaurant in Manhattan in 2020 in an image released by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. [UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK]

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) previously questioned Terry about these activities as an alleged agent for South Korea and conducted a search of her house, where investigators found the luxury goods provided by the NIS and a phone used to communicate with NIS handlers, according to the indictment.

In the United States, under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA), anyone who represents or promotes the policies and interests of a foreign government, political party or company must report their activities to the Department of Justice. Prosecutors believe Terry willfully failed to do so. When asked under oath during at least three congressional testimonies between 2016 and 2022 whether she was a "reportable person" under FARA, Terry responded in the negative.

Currently a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, a U.S. think tank, Terry was a senior CIA analyst from 2001 to 2008 and director of Korea, Japan and Oceanic Affairs at the National Security Council from 2008 to 2009 under former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

A screen capture of surveillance camera footage that allegedly shows an NIS handler purchasing a designer handbag for Terry in 2021. [UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK]

Terry is on unpaid administrative leave from the Council on Foreign Relations, and her bio has been deleted from the think tank's website since Wednesday.

"These allegations are unfounded and distort the work of a scholar and news analyst known for her independence and years of service to the United States," Terry's lawyer, Lee Wolosky, said in a statement. "In fact, she was a harsh critic of the South Korean government during times this indictment alleges that she was acting on its behalf. Once the facts are made clear it will be evident the government made a significant mistake."

Footage from another surveillance camera shows Terry and the alleged NIS handler apparently leaving the store with the handbag. [UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK]

UPDATE, July 17: More details about the charges and allegations against Terry added.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]