Former CIA official accused of being secret agent for South Korea

Shafaq News/ US authorities have accused a senior National Security Council official and former CIA employee, Sue Mi Terry, of acting as a secret agent for South Korean intelligence.

According to an indictment, Terry admitted to the FBI that she provided information to South Korean intelligence. This included passing handwritten notes from a confidential meeting in June 2022 with Secretary of State Antony Blinken concerning US policy towards North Korea.

The indictment also alleged that Terry accepted luxurious gifts, including expensive dinners at sushi restaurants and costly handbags, in exchange for advocating for Seoul's positions in media appearances, sharing non-public information with intelligence officers, and facilitating access for South Korean officials to US government officials.

Prosecutors claim that South Korean intelligence secretly paid Terry more than $37,000 through a public policy program she controlled, which focused on Korean affairs.

South Korea's National Intelligence Service stated on Wednesday that intelligence authorities from both countries are closely communicating about the case.

Separately, South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on an ongoing legal matter in a foreign country.

The alleged conduct occurred after Terry left US government service and worked at think tanks, becoming a prominent voice in public policy on foreign affairs.

Lee Wolosky, Terry's attorney, stated that the allegations are baseless and misrepresent her work and independent analysis. He noted that Terry had not held a security clearance for over a decade and had consistently held critical views of the South Korean government during the period in question.

Terry served in the government from 2001 to 2011, initially as a CIA analyst and later as the Deputy National Intelligence Officer for East Asia at the National Intelligence Council, before moving to think tanks such as the Council on Foreign Relations.

Prosecutors noted that Terry never registered with the Department of Justice as a foreign agent. In her disclosures to the House of Representatives, where she testified at least three times between 2016 and 2022, she did not reveal her secret work with South Korea, thereby preventing Congress from obtaining complete information.

The indictment suggests that this is an opportunity to fairly assess Terry's testimony in light of her alleged long-term efforts on behalf of the South Korean government.