Former CIA analyst charged with working for South Korean intelligence service

July 18 (UPI) -- Sue Mi Terry, a former CIA official and a leading expert on North Korea , was arrested on allegations of secretly working for South Korea's intelligence agency, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

In a 31-page indictment unsealed by the Southern District of New York, prosecutors charged Terry with failing to register as a foreign agent and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act. She was arrested on Tuesday in New York City, the attorney's office said.

The indictment claims Terry promoted South Korean government positions in her public appearances and passed U.S. government information and contacts to Seoul intelligence agents. In exchange, she received luxury handbags, expensive dinners and more than $37,000.

Terry "subverted foreign agent registration laws in order to provide South Korean intelligence officers with access, information, and advocacy," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement .

"The charges brought should send a clear message to those in public policy who may be tempted to sell their expertise to a foreign government to think twice and ensure you are in accordance with the law," he said.

Each charge carries a maximum sentence of five years, the attorney's office said.

Terry, 54, was born in Seoul and raised in Hawaii and Virginia. She was a senior analyst on Korean issues for the CIA from 2001 to 2008 and later held high-ranking roles at the National Security Council and the National Intelligence Council.

After leaving the government in 2011, Terry worked in academia and at a number of think tanks, including the Council for Foreign Relations, where she is senior fellow for Korea studies.

The CFR placed Terry on unpaid administrative leave upon learning of the charges, spokesperson Iva Zorić told UPI.

"[We] will cooperate with any investigation," Zorić said. "We take the allegations very seriously."

Terry's lawyer Lee Wolosky told UPI the allegations are unfounded and distort the work of an expert "known for her independence and years of service to the United States."

"Dr. Terry has not held a security clearance for over a decade and her views on matters relating to the Korean peninsula have been consistent over many years," Wolosky said in a statement. "In fact, she was a harsh critic of the South Korean government during times this indictment alleges that she was acting on its behalf."

"Once the facts are made clear it will be evident the government made a significant mistake," he added.

According to federal prosecutors, Terry began working with South Korean agents from the National Intelligence Service in 2013. The unnamed NIS agents -- or "handlers" -- posed as diplomats in South Korea's U.N. Mission and Washington Embassy.

Terry began by publishing opinion articles following Seoul's talking points on North Korea but later arranged meetings for the intelligence agents with U.S. national security policy officials.

She also passed non-public information along to NIS agents. In one example cited in the indictment, Terry participated in a private, off-the-record group meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in June 2022. Immediately afterward, she was picked up in a car by her primary South Korean intelligence contact, who photographed her handwritten notes from the meeting.

In another 2022 incident, Terry invited congressional staffers to a Washington, D.C., happy hour nominally hosted by the South Korean Embassy but secretly funded by the NIS. The event allowed South Korean officials to "identify, evaluate and potentially recruit congressional staff whom they otherwise would not have been able to access," according to the indictment.

Terry also testified on at least three occasions before the U.S. House of Representatives, which required her to file disclosure forms declaring she was not a registered foreign agent.

In exchange for her work, the NIS provided Terry with gifts including a $2,845 Dolce & Gabbana coat, a $2,950 Bottega Veneta handbag and a $3,450 Louis Vuitton handbag.

The South Korean agents also took her to several meals at Michelin-star restaurants and deposited some $37,000 into an account she controlled while working at an unnamed think tank.

In 2023, Terry participated in a voluntary interview with the FBI and admitted that she was a "source" for the South Korean intelligence service, the indictment said. She also acknowledged that she had "resigned in lieu of termination from the CIA" over the agency's concerns about her contacts with NIS officers.

"For over a decade, despite repeated warnings, Terry allegedly exploited her think tank roles to advance a foreign agenda," Christie Curtis, acting assistant director in charge of the New York field office of the FBI, said in a statement .

"Her alleged actions posed a severe threat to national security," Curtis said. "This arrest sends a clear message: the FBI will pursue and arrest anyone who endangers our nation's security by collaborating with foreign spies."

The Justice Department has used the Foreign Agents Registration Act in several recent high-profile cases targeting foreign influence in the United States. On Tuesday, New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez was found guilty on 16 counts of bribery, extortion and acting as an illegal foreign agent for the Egyptian government.