A former CIA analyst and prominent expert on North Korea, Sue Mi Terry, has been indicted by a New York grand jury on charges of secretly working for the South Korean government. The indictment alleges that Terry, who was also a member of the US National Security Council, began acting as a foreign agent in June 2013.
According to the indictment, Terry advocated South Korean policy positions, disclosed nonpublic US Government information to South Korean intelligence officers, and facilitated access for South Korean officials to US Government officials. In exchange, she allegedly received around $37,000, designer goods, lavish meals, and payments for writing opinion articles that supported South Korean policy positions.
The Council on Foreign Relations, where Terry was employed as a senior fellow, placed her on administrative leave upon learning of the indictment. The indictment also alleges that Terry provided valuable information to the South Korean government, including detailed notes from a closed-door North Korea policy briefing with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
US law requires American citizens to register as foreign agents if they engage in certain behaviors for or on behalf of a foreign government. The indictment claims that Terry did not register as required, which is considered a crime.
Terry, a naturalized US citizen born in Seoul, had a long history of working in East Asian affairs, including serving as a CIA analyst and as the director for Japan, Korea, and Oceanic affairs for the National Security Council under multiple administrations.
This case is not the first instance of alleged collusion between the US and South Korea. Internal Pentagon documents leaked last year revealed private conversations between senior South Korean national security officials that the US had reportedly wiretapped.
