July 18, 2024
SEOUL – Sue Mi Terry, a former CIA official and renowned expert on Korean Peninsula issues, has been indicted on charges of acting as an unregistered agent for the South Korean government since at least 2013 and receiving bribes that included luxury handbags and financial support.
Terry “advocated ROK policy positions, including published articles and during media appearances, disclosed nonpublic US government information to ROK intelligence officers, and facilitated access for ROK government officials to US government officials,” read an indictment unsealed Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan.
ROK is the acronym of South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea.
Terry is accused of providing a handwritten note with details from a confidential meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken regarding North Korean policy to a South Korean intelligence officer in June 2022.
Terry allegedly received repeated bribes from South Korean intelligence officers, including luxury bags, a Dolce & Gabbana coat, high-priced dinners and over $37,000 in “covert funding” disguised as a public program focusing on Korean affairs.
The indictment includes multiple photos of Terry and “handlers” from South Korea’s National Intelligence Service shopping for Louis Vuitton and Bottega Veneta handbags, as well as dining at an upmarket Greek restaurant in Manhattan.
The indictment charges Terry with failing to register as a foreign agent as required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
The FARA is a registration and disclosure statute that requires anyone acting in the US as an “agent of a foreign principal” to register with the Attorney General if they engage, directly or through another person, in activities such as political activities, political consulting, public relations or publicity activities on behalf of the foreign principal.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service on Wednesday said the “Korean and US intelligence authorities have been in close communication concerning reports of indictments for violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act” when asked by The Korea Herald to comment on the issue.
The Foreign Ministry in Seoul also responded Wednesday, “It is not appropriate to comment on matters that are currently under foreign judicial proceedings.”
In a statement, Lee Wolosky, Terry’s lawyer, said that the “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.”
Lee explained that Terry had not held a security clearance for over a decade and that her views on Korean Peninsula issues had remained consistent for many years.
“In fact, she was a harsh critic of the South Korean government during times this indictment alleges that she was acting on its behalf,” he said. “Once the facts are made clear it will be evident the government made a significant mistake.”
Terry, a naturalized US citizen, was born in Seoul and raised in the US. She has held key roles at prominent US think tanks. She joined the Council on Foreign Relations in New York as a senior fellow for Korea studies in March.
From 2021 to 2023, she was the director of the Asia Program at the Wilson Center and a senior fellow with the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies from 2017 to 2021.
Terry has extensive experience in US government agencies, having served as the director of Korea, Japan, and Oceanic affairs at the National Security Council from 2008 to 2009 and as a senior analyst on Korean issues at the CIA from 2001 to 2008.