South Korea

Ex-CIA Analyst Charged With Spying for South Korea

JUL 17 2024·Updated AUG 1 2024

Story

Above: Sue Mi Terry attends the 50th Telluride Film Festival on Sept. 2, 2023 in Telluride, Colorado. Image credit: Vivien Killilea/Contributor/Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

The Facts

A former CIA analyst and a North Korea expert with the Council on Foreign Relations has been charged with serving as a secret agent for South Korea's intelligence service.
nytimes
According to an indictment filed in the Southern District of New York, prosecutors charged Sue Mi Terry with failing to register as a foreign agent and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
BBC News
Terry allegedly received luxury handbags, expensive meals at Michelin-starred restaurants, and over $37K in funding for a program she ran on Korean affairs.
The Telegraph
Authorities claim she shared classified information with South Korean intelligence officers, lobbied on South Korea's behalf in the media, and facilitated connections between US and South Korean officials.
The Telegraph
Seoul-born naturalized American citizen, Terry worked for the US government from 2001 to 2011. She allegedly began operating as a foreign agent in 2013 and continued it over the next decade.
Al Jazeera
Terry's attorney claims that the "allegations are unfounded" and that the prosecutors were making "a significant mistake," arguing that she had been "a harsh critic of the South Korean government."
Time

Sources Split

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The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

Terry sold her integrity for several luxury items, and it was time for her to face the consequences of her actions. This indictment should warn other public policy officials in similar positions about the consequences of collaborating with foreign spies and the dangers of selling information to foreign countries.

United States Department of Justice

Establishment-critical narrative

The allegations against Terry are unfounded and categorically false. In fact, the opposite of what prosecutors accuse her of is true. During the time they accused her of being an agent of the South Korean government, she was its fierce opponent, not a pawn. Prosecutors will regret filing this indictment.