Ex-CIA Analyst Charged With Spying for South Korea

Improve the News Foundation -

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.[1]
  • 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.[2]
  • Terry allegedly received luxury handbags, expensive meals at Michelin-starred restaurants, and over $37K in funding for a program she ran on Korean affairs.[3]
  • 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.[3]
  • 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.[4]
  • 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.'[5]

Sources: [1]New York Times, [2]BBC News, [3]The Telegraph, [4]Al Jazeera and [5]Time.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by United States Department of Justice. 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.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Al Jazeera. 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.