The Justice Department has charged Sue Mi Terry, a former CIA analyst and senior official at the National Security Council, with acting as a secret agent for South Korea’s intelligence service in exchange for luxury gifts. Terry, 54, allegedly accepted luxury gifts, such as handbags, expensive meals at sushi restaurants, and $37,000 in funding for her public policy program on Korean affairs. In return, she was accused of promoting South Korean government positions during media appearances, sharing private information with intelligence officers, and organizing meetings to provide South Korean officials access to U.S. officials, according to the Justice Department.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams stated that Terry subverted foreign agent registration laws to provide South Korean intelligence officers with access, information, and advocacy. The charges against Terry should serve as a warning to those in public policy to refrain from selling their expertise to foreign governments. Terry confessed to the FBI that she served as a source of information for South Korean intelligence, including passing handwritten notes from a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken about U.S. policy toward North Korea.
FBI Acting Assistant Director in Charge, Christie M. Curtis, emphasized that compromising national security weakens defenses and puts lives at risk. Terry was accused of exploiting her think tank roles to advance a foreign agenda, disclosing sensitive U.S. government information, and influencing U.S. policy for money and luxury gifts. This arrest sends a message that the FBI will pursue and arrest anyone who endangers national security by collaborating with foreign spies.
Prosecutors claim that Terry did not register as a foreign agent with the Justice Department. She allegedly did not disclose her covert work with South Korea, preventing Congress from evaluating her testimony accurately. Terry’s lawyer, Lee Wolosky, denied the allegations, stating that they distort the work of a scholar and news analyst known for her independence and service to the United States. Wolosky mentioned that Terry has not held a security clearance for over a decade and has remained consistent in her views.
Terry’s career in the U.S. government spanned from 2001 to 2011, where she worked as a CIA analyst, director for Korea, Japan and Oceanic Affairs at the National Security Council, and deputy national intelligence officer for East Asia at the National Intelligence Council. After leaving the government, she worked for think tanks in New York and Washington, D.C., including the Council on Foreign Relations.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service stated that they are in close communication with the U.S. regarding this case. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
