On July 16, 2024, Terry was arrested on charges of acting as an unregistered agent for the National Intelligence Service of South Korea. Allegedly, Terry used her roles at think tanks to secretly advance South Korean interests, including disclosing nonpublic U.S. government information and influencing policy. In return, she reportedly received luxury goods, expensive meals, and funding for her public policy program.[5]
Early life and education
Terry was born in Seoul. After her father's death from liver cancer when she was in the fourth grade, she moved with her mother to the United States at age 12.[6][7] She was raised in Hawaii and Virginia.[8]
In 2021, she was named director of the Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy at the Wilson Center, succeeding Jean H. Lee.[19]
Terry has been cited as an expert on topics involving the Korean Peninsula, such as the likelihood of North Korean defections during and after the Olympics,[20] whether US election results will affect relations with North Korea,[21] the probabilities for success of summit meetings between state leaders in the US and North Korea,[22] the impact of postponing or canceling joint military exercises,[23] the effects of United Nations actions regarding human rights in North Korea[24] and whether North Korea will attack South Korea.[25]
Indictment
On July 16, 2024, Terry was indicted and arrested for allegedly acting as an unregistered foreign agent of the South Korean government, in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. According to the indictment, Terry began acting as an unregistered agent in 2013 and advocated for South Korean policy positions, disclosing nonpublic U.S. government information to South Korean intelligence officers, including providing to her handler in 2022 certain handwritten notes from a private meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. In exchange, she allegedly received designer goods, upscale dinners, and over $37,000 in funding for policy programs she managed at think tanks via covert payments.[5][12][26] Terry coauthored an opinion piece for TheWashington Post with her husband, Max Boot, a columnist for the paper, in 2023. Boot has not been charged with any wrongdoing. According to prosecutors, the article was written at the behest of South Korean officials and used information they provided without disclosing the involvement of the officials.[27]
Her lawyer, Lee Wolosky, rejected the U.S. government's allegations, saying that Terry upheld views as a scholar and news analyst even when it would clash with Seoul's perspective.[28] Following suspension, Terry resigned from her role at the Council on Foreign Relations.[4][29]
The indictment has been criticized by former White House Counsel Gregory B. Craig,[30] attorney Philip Rottner,[31] Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin, and Harvard Law School Professor Laurence Tribe. In Just Security, Craig wrote: "The Justice Department’s case against Dr. Terry is shockingly weak. If not completely wrong-headed to try to criminalize the conduct at issue (which I argue it is), the DOJ’s action is at best an overly aggressive enforcement action that is in no way worth the chilling effect it can have on scholars across this space.[32]
^박성균 (December 27, 2013). "정치력 신장 캠페인 본격 전개". Korea Daily. Archived from the original on October 12, 2018. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
^ abTerry, Sue Mi (2024-05-28). "The North Korean and Chinese Threats Are Growing. But so Is the Trilateral Response. | Council on Foreign Relations". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 2024-08-14. Editor's Note: On July 16, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed the indictment of Sue Mi Terry on charges of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). CFR has a rigorous FARA compliance policy, and Dr. Terry is no longer a CFR employee as of July 18, 2024.
.jpg)
