The U.S. prosecution has indicted a former North Korea expert from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on espionage charges. The prosecution alleged that the expert had accepted payments for assisting the South Korean government in collecting intelligence without reporting it to the authorities.
According to The New York Times (NYT), the federal prosecution in Manhattan, New York, revealed a 31-page indictment on Tuesday, charging Sue Mi Terry, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) think tank.
In the indictment, the prosecution claimed that Terry had worked effectively for the South Korean government since June 2013. According to the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), anyone in the U.S. who works for a foreign government or institution must report this to the authorities.
Sue Mi Terry, a Korean-American immigrant, grew up in Hawaii and Virginia. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in political science from New York University and a Ph.D. in international relations from Tufts University in Boston. She then worked as an East Asia analyst at the CIA from 2001 until her retirement in 2008.
The court document details that Terry began working for the South Korean government in June 2013, first contacting an individual introduced as a counselor at the South Korean Mission to the United Nations. They alleged that Terry had received gifts from this person over about ten years, including a Dolce & Gabbana coat worth $2,845, a Louis Vuitton handbag worth $3,450, and another handbag worth $2,950. Terry was also reportedly treated to dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant. The prosecution pointed out that Terry had received at least $37,000 from public policy programs in South Korea.
The prosecution alleges that Terry assisted the South Korean government in intelligence gathering in exchange for these financial compensations. According to the prosecution, Terry hand-wrote and delivered notes to a South Korean official after attending a closed-door North Korea policy meeting in 2022 with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Moreover, the prosecution claims that Terry appeared in or contributed to U.S. and Korean media to advocate South Korean government policies, including a 2014 NYT editorial.
Moreover, the prosecution emphasized that Terry had appeared at U.S. congressional hearings on three occasions. Anyone appearing at a congressional hearing must swear beforehand that they are not involved in the interests of a foreign government.
Lee Wolosky, Terry’s defense attorney, countered the indictment, calling it baseless speculation. He claimed that the prosecution had distorted Terry’s research and news analysis. “Dr. Terry has not held a security clearance for over a decade, and her views on matters relating to the Korean peninsula have been consistent for many years,” Wolosky said. “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.”
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