The U.S. Department of Justice has arrested and charged Korean-American woman Sue Mi Terry with acting as an unregistered agent for a foreign government, in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
Terry stands charged with one count of conspiracy to violate FARA and one count of failure to register under FARA. Of note, Terry was employed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and worked in the White House’s National Security Council between 2001 and 2011. She is also married to Washington Post columnist Max Boot, who often writes about foreign policy and national security topics.
Federal prosecutors allege Terry worked for around a decade as an unregistered agent of the South Korean government, beginning in 2013. In that time, prosecutors say she publicly advocated for policies favored by the South Korean government, disclosed non-public U.S. government information to South Korean intelligence officers, and helped South Korean officials connect with U.S. government officials.
In exchange for her lobbying work, South Korean officials allegedly rewarded Terry with luxury goods, expensive dinners, and more than $37,000 in funding for a public policy program focusing on Korean affairs that she managed.
Among the suspicious behavior prosecutors noted in an indictment unsealed on Tuesday, was Terry’s authorship of a series of opinion articles in March and April of 2023, promoting the South Korean government’s diplomatic efforts. She allegedly wrote these articles, under the instruction of a South Korean government official. One such article was published in the Washington Post on March 7, 2023, with her husband, Boot, sharing the byline. The DOJ has not named her husband as a defendant in the case.
Terry admitted to her ties with South Korean officials in a June 2023 voluntary interview with the FBI. In the interview, she said she resigned in lieu of termination from the CIA after the agency raised concerns about her ties with South Korean intelligence officials. She further attested to being a key source for South Korean intelligence officials.
Terry told the FBI that she immediately notified a South Korean government handler about the details of a June 2022 meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
She also admitted to hosting, at her handler’s direction, a “happy hour” event with Congressional staffers in June 2022. She said South Korean embassy officials whom she believed were “probably” also intelligence officers attended the event. She allegedly told the FBI that this event allowed South Korean officials to gain access to U.S. officials they otherwise would not have been able to meet.
The indictment states Terry also told the FBI that she took in payments from her handler for a think tank she worked with, but concealed the true source of the funds because she believed it would undermine the think tank’s objectivity and reputation.
Terry faces a maximum prison term of up to 10 years in prison if convicted for the FARA charges.
This article was originally published by FreeBase News and is reprinted with permission.
