Former CIA Official Charged with Being Secret Agent for South Korean Intelligence

A former CIA official and senior figure at the White House National Security Council, Sue Mi Terry, has been indicted on charges of acting as a secret agent for South Korea‘s intelligence service, as revealed by the Justice Department.

The allegations against Terry include receiving luxury goods and gifts such as high-end handbags and expensive dinners at sushi restaurants in exchange for promoting South Korean government policies during media appearances. Additionally, she is accused of disclosing classified US government information to South Korean intelligence officers.

According to the indictment filed in federal court in Manhattan, Terry confessed to the FBI that she provided insider information to South Korean officials, even passing handwritten notes from a confidential meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken regarding US policy towards North Korea in June 2022.

Prosecutors claim that South Korean intelligence officers paid Terry over $37,000 under the guise of a public policy program she managed, which focused on Korean affairs. The indictment also includes surveillance footage of Terry receiving gifts at luxury stores in Washington, including Bottega Veneta and Louis Vuitton, in 2019 and 2021.

In response to the charges, the National Intelligence Service of South Korea stated it is in close communication with US intelligence authorities regarding the case. The South Korean Foreign Ministry refrained from commenting on the ongoing judicial proceedings in a foreign country.

Terry, who worked for the US government from 2001 to 2011, held roles in the CIA and the National Intelligence Council before transitioning to think tanks like the Council on Foreign Relations. Her lawyer, Lee Wolosky, denied the allegations, emphasizing Terry’s reputation for independence and service to the United States.

While Terry had not held a security clearance for over a decade, the indictment asserts that she failed to register as a foreign agent and did not disclose her covert activities for South Korea, a crucial omission during her testimonies to the House of Representatives from 2016 to 2022.

The charges against Terry come on the heels of a similar case involving Democratic Senator Robert Menendez, who was recently convicted of accepting luxury items from foreign governments. The Council on Foreign Relations, where Terry was a senior fellow, has placed her on unpaid leave and removed her bio from its website.