Former CIA officer and senior National Security Council official Sue Mi Terry has been accused of serving as an undercover agent for South Korea's intelligence service, the US Department of Justice announced today.
According to the indictment in federal court in Manhattan, Sue Mi Terry received expensive goods, including luxury handbags and went to expensive dinners at sushi restaurants in exchange for lobbying South Korean government positions during media appearances.
The indictment also alleges sharing classified information with intelligence officials and allowing South Korean officials access to U.S. government officials.
She also admitted to the FBI that she served as a source of information for South Korean intelligence, including passing on handwritten notes from a June 2022 meeting she had with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken about US government policy toward North Korea.
Prosecutors allege that South Korean intelligence agents also secretly paid her more than $37.000 for a public policy program Terry controlled that focused on Korean issues.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea announced today that it is not appropriate to comment on a case that is under court proceedings in a foreign country.
Her lawyer, Lee Volosky, said in a statement that "the accusations are baseless and distort the work of a scientist and analyst known for her independence and years of service in the US."
Terry served in government from 2001 to 2011, first as a CIA analyst and later as deputy national intelligence officer for East Asia at the National Intelligence Council, before working for various think tanks, including the Council on external relations.
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