Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A foreign policy expert who previously worked for the Central Intelligence Agency and the White House National Security Council has been indicted on U.S. charges alleging he worked as an unregistered agent for the South Korean government in exchange for luxury goods and other gifts.
According to the indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday, Sue Mi Terry defended South Korean policy positions, disclosed nonpublic U.S. government information to South Korean intelligence officers and facilitated South Korean government officials’ access to U.S. government officials.
In return, South Korean intelligence agents allegedly provided Terry with Bottega Veneta and Louis Vuitton handbags, Dolce & Gabbana coats, dinners at Michelin-starred restaurants, and more than $37,000 in “secret” funds for a public policy program on Korea issues that he runs.
The indictment includes surveillance camera footage that captured Terry waiting and holding gift bags while officers paid at cash registers at Bottega Veneta and Louis Vuitton stores in Washington in 2019 and 2021.
Terry’s activities as an agent began in 2013, two years after she left her job with the U.S. government, and continued for 10 years after FBI agents warned in 2014 that South Korean intelligence services might try to covertly fund the events.
She is currently a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and an expert on East Asia and the Korean peninsula, including North Korea, according to the think tank’s website.
Terry did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but her lawyer, Lee Woloski, said in a statement that “these allegations are baseless and misrepresent the work of a scholar and news analyst known for her independence and longstanding service to the United States.”
“In fact, the indictment alleges that she was acting on behalf of the South Korean government, which she harshly criticized at the time. Once the facts come to light, it will become clear that the government made serious mistakes,” he added.
The Council on Foreign Relations has placed Terry on administrative leave without pay and will cooperate with any investigation, a spokesman said.
South Korea is not a defendant. The South Korean Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The National Intelligence Service in Seoul said it was in close contact with U.S. intelligence officials. U.S. Attorney Damien Williams’ office in Manhattan did not immediately respond to a similar request.
The indictment also alleges that Terry published several opinion pieces at the request of authorities in Seoul, including receiving $500 in return for writing an article in a South Korean newspaper praising the results of a summit between President Joe Biden and President Yoon Seok-youl in April 2023.
According to Terry’s online bio, she appears frequently on television, radio and podcasts and has testified multiple times before congressional committees.
Born in Seoul and raised in Virginia, Terry served as a senior analyst at the CIA from 2001 to 2008 and as director for Korea, Japan and maritime affairs on the National Security Council from 2008 to 2009 under Republican President George W. Bush and Democratic President Barack Obama.
According to her biography, she currently lives in New York.
The indictment charges that Terry failed to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act and conspired to violate the act.
According to the paper, she gave a voluntary interview to the FBI in June 2023 and admitted to being a “source” for South Korean intelligence and “providing valuable information.”
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Washington, Hyun-hee Shin and Hyun-soo Lim in Seoul; Editing by Leslie Adler, Sandra Mailer and Michael Perry)
