A New York grand jury has indicted a former CIA analyst on charges of spying for the South Korean government in exchange for cash, luxury goods, bags and gourmet meals.
Sue M. Terry, a former senior official on the White House National Security Council, faces two counts of failure to register as a foreign agent and conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Federal officials say Ms. Terry, a prominent U.S. expert on North Korea, has served as a South Korean government agent for more than a decade, but she did not register as a foreign agent with U.S. officials, according to court documents released Tuesday.
A spokesman for the Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank where Ms Terry is a senior fellow on Asia, told US media it had placed her on unpaid leave. The organization also removed her biography from its website.
Ms Terry, 54, denies the accusations and her lawyer Lee Wolosky told the BBC the allegations against her were “baseless”.
Wolowski said the charges “misrepresent the work of a scholar and news analyst known for his independence and years of service to the United States.” “Indeed, she was a harsh critic of the South Korean government at the time this indictment alleges that she acted on its behalf.”
Ms. Terry was born in South Korea and moved to the United States when she was 12, according to her former employer at Columbia University.
In 2001, she received her PhD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, a prestigious school of international relations in Massachusetts. She is known to teach in English and Korean.
Ms. Terry, 54, served as a senior analyst at the CIA from 2001 to 2008 and then held various positions in the federal government, including serving as director for Korea, Japan and Maritime Affairs on the National Security Council from 2001 to 2008. The George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations.
Prosecutors said Ms. Terry began working as a South Korean government agent in 2013, about five years after she stopped working for the CIA and National Security Council.
In the 31-page indictment, officials said Ms. Terry admitted to FBI agents during a voluntary interview in 2023 that she was an “informant” for South Korea’s National Intelligence Service.
The South Korean government gave Ms Terry a $2,845 (£2,100) Dolce & Gabbana coat, a $3,450 Louis Vuitton handbag and meals at high-end restaurants, the indictment said.
The government also gave her $37,000 and devised a plan to hide the source of the funds, eventually depositing them in a gift fund at the think tank where she worked, officials said.
Ms. Terry’s indictment came a day after Democratic Senator Robert Menendez was convicted of helping foreign governments exchange for luxury items such as gold bullion and a Mercedes-Benz.
