Sue Mi Terry
{{Short description|Korean-American international relations scholar and former CIA analyst}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Sue Mi Terry
| image = Sue Mi Terry speaking in 2018 (cropped).jpg
| alt = Sue Mi Terry speaking at a conference in 2018
| caption = Sue Mi Terry speaking at a conference in 2018
| birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date|45|2017|11|08}}
| birth_place = Seoul, South Korea
| spouse = Max Boot{{cite news | last1=Schaffer | first1=Aaron | last2=Nakashima | first2=Ellen | title=Ex-CIA analyst accused of working for South Korean intelligence service | date=July 17, 2024 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/07/16/terry-south-korea-cia-fara/ | work=washingtonpost.com }}
| nationality =
| other_names =
| occupation = International relations scholar
| title = Senior Fellow for Korea Studies
| employer = Council on Foreign Relations
| education = New York University (BA)
Tufts University (PhD)
| module = {{Infobox Korean name|child=yes
| hanja =
| rr = Gim Sumi
| mr = Kim Sumi}}
}}
Sue Mi Terry (born {{c.|1972}}) is a Korean-American scholar of international relations who previously held the position of senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations{{Cite web |last=Terry |first=Sue Mi |date=2024-05-28 |title=The North Korean and Chinese Threats Are Growing. But so Is the Trilateral Response. {{!}} Council on Foreign Relations |url=https://www.cfr.org/blog/north-korean-and-chinese-threats-are-growing-so-trilateral-response |access-date=2024-08-14 |publisher=Council on Foreign Relations |language=en |quote=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.}} and served as a CIA intelligence analyst specializing in East Asia.{{Cite press release |title=Former Government Official Arrested For Acting As Unregistered Agent Of South Korean Government |date=2024-07-17 |publisher=U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York |url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/former-government-official-arrested-acting-unregistered-agent-south-korean-0 |access-date=2024-08-15}}
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.
The indictment has been criticized by leading civil liberties groups as a threat to the First Amendment.{{Cite news |last=Lippman |first=Daniel |date=March 6, 2025 |title=“First Amendment groups go to bat in Terry case.” |url=https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-influence/2025/03/06/first-amendment-groups-go-to-bat-in-terry-case-00217032 |url-status=live |work=Politico}}
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.{{cite web|url=https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/Bio_Terry.pdf|title=Dr. Sue Mi Terry, Columbia University|website=US-China Economic and Security Review Commission|access-date=October 10, 2018|archive-date=October 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010090857/https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/Bio_Terry.pdf|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://www.asiae.co.kr/news/view.htm?idxno=2018012508560640717|title=美, 北 공격 여부 올해 결정할 수밖에 없을 것|newspaper=Asia Business Daily|date=January 25, 2018|access-date=October 12, 2018|archive-date=October 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012135035/http://www.asiae.co.kr/news/view.htm?idxno=2018012508560640717|url-status=live}} She was raised in Hawaii and Virginia.{{cite web|url=https://www.csis.org/people/sue-mi-terry|title=Sue Mi Terry: Senior Fellow, Korea Chair|website=Center for Strategic and International Studies|access-date=October 10, 2018|archive-date=October 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012135131/https://www.csis.org/people/sue-mi-terry|url-status=live}}
Terry received a B.A. in political science from New York University in 1993.{{cite news|url=http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2017/11/08/2017110801629.html|title=Korean American Lands Senior Fellowship at Influential Think Tank|work=The Chosun Ilbo|date=November 8, 2017|access-date=October 10, 2018|archive-date=September 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909103924/http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2017/11/08/2017110801629.html|url-status=live}} In 2001, she earned a Ph.D. in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.{{cite thesis|date=2001|first=Sue Mi|last=Terry|title=Park Chung Hee's Korea, 1961-1979: a study in political leadership and statecraft|publisher=Tufts University|type=PhD}}
Career
She worked at the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Council (NSC), the National Intelligence Council and the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University. From 2001 to 2008, Terry was a senior analyst on Korean issues for the CIA, where she produced hundreds of intelligence assessments.{{Cite web |title=Sue Mi Terry (F98, 01) {{!}} Tufts Global Leadership |url=https://tuftsgloballeadership.org/about/boards-and-staff/sue-mi-terry-f98-01 |access-date=2022-09-15 |website=tuftsgloballeadership.org |archive-date=2022-09-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220915140307/https://tuftsgloballeadership.org/about/boards-and-staff/sue-mi-terry-f98-01 |url-status=live }} Terry subsequently admitted that she resigned from the CIA to avoid being fired over what she described as the agency's "problems" concerning her contacts with South Korean intelligence.{{Cite web |date=2024-07-15 |title=United States of America v. Sue Mi Terry, defendant |url=https://www.justice.gov/d9/2024-07/u.s._v._terry_indictment_0.pdf |access-date=2024-08-15 |publisher=United States District Court, Southern District of New York}}
From 2008 to 2009, Terry was director of Korea, Japan, and oceanic affairs at the NSC under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. In that capacity, she formulated, coordinated, and implemented U.S. government policy toward Korea and Japan as well as Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania.{{Cite web |title=Dr. Sue Mi Terry Columbia University |url=https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/Bio_Terry.pdf |access-date=2022-09-15 |website=U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission |archive-date=2022-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819013149/https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/Bio_Terry.pdf |url-status=live }} She was a National Intelligence Fellow in the Council on Foreign Relations' David Rockefeller Studies Program from 2010 to 2011.{{Cite web |title=Sue Mi Terry {{!}} Wilson Center |url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/person/sue-mi-terry |access-date=2022-10-06 |website=www.wilsoncenter.org |language=en |archive-date=2022-10-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006080522/https://www.wilsoncenter.org/person/sue-mi-terry |url-status=live }} Subsequently she served as a Senior Research Fellow at Columbia University's Weatherhead East Asian Institute from 2011 to 2015{{Cite web |title=Sue Mi Terry is Managing Director at Bower Group Asia |url=https://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA00/20170207/105527/HHRG-115-FA00-Bio-TerryS-20170207.pdf |access-date=2022-10-25 |website=docs.house.gov |archive-date=2022-10-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221025154654/https://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA00/20170207/105527/HHRG-115-FA00-Bio-TerryS-20170207.pdf |url-status=live }} and a Senior Advisor for Korea at Bower Group Asia from 2015 to 2017.{{Cite web |title=Dr. Sue Mi Terry is Director of the Asia Program and Director of the Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center |url=https://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA05/20220512/114753/HMTG-117-FA05-Bio-TerryS-20220512.pdf |access-date=2022-10-25 |website=docs.house.gov |archive-date=2022-06-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220619044406/https://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA05/20220512/114753/HMTG-117-FA05-Bio-TerryS-20220512.pdf |url-status=live }} Terry has received numerous awards for her leadership and mission support, including the 2008 CIA Foreign Language Award.{{Cite web |date=2017-11-06 |title=Dr. Sue Mi Terry Joins CSIS as Senior Fellow for Korea Chair |url=https://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=%2FST%2Fdb%2Fread.php%3Fidx%3D13472 |access-date=2022-11-10 |website=theseoultimes.com |archive-date=2022-11-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221110154159/https://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=%2FST%2Fdb%2Fread.php%3Fidx%3D13472 |url-status=live }}
In 2017 she became a senior fellow for the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.{{cite journal|url=https://www.csis.org/news/sue-mi-terry-joins-csis-senior-fellow-korea-chair|title=Sue Mi Terry Joins CSIS as Senior Fellow for Korea Chair|website=Center for Strategic and International Studies|date=November 6, 2017|access-date=October 10, 2018|archive-date=October 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012135141/https://www.csis.org/news/sue-mi-terry-joins-csis-senior-fellow-korea-chair|url-status=live}}
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.{{Cite web |title=Sue Mi Terry Appointed Director of the Hyundai Motor Korea Foundation Center {{!}} Wilson Center |url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/microsite/5/node/108128,%20https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/sue-mi-terry-appointed-director-hyundai-motor-korea-foundation-center |access-date=2022-03-26 |website=www.wilsoncenter.org |language=en}}
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,{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/16/world/asia/north-koreans-olympics.html|work=The New York Times|first=Motoko|last=Rich|title=Seeing Bounty Abroad, Will North Koreans Change Their Homeland?|date=February 16, 2018|access-date=October 10, 2018|archive-date=October 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011053529/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/16/world/asia/north-koreans-olympics.html|url-status=live}} whether US election results will affect relations with North Korea,{{cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/10/08/will-republicans-lose-their-majority-in-congress-ask-pyongyang/|title=Will Republicans Lose Their Majority in Congress? Ask Pyongyang|website=Foreign Policy|first=Robbie|last=Gramer|date=October 8, 2018|access-date=October 10, 2018|archive-date=October 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010120705/https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/10/08/will-republicans-lose-their-majority-in-congress-ask-pyongyang/|url-status=live}} the probabilities for success of summit meetings between state leaders in the US and North Korea,{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/former-cia-analyst-u-s-must-remain-very-very-skeptical-of-north-korea/|title=Former CIA analyst: U.S. must remain "very, very skeptical" of North Korea|work=CBS News|first=Katiana|last=Krawchenko|date=June 1, 2018|access-date=October 10, 2018|archive-date=October 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011013815/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/former-cia-analyst-u-s-must-remain-very-very-skeptical-of-north-korea/|url-status=live}} the impact of postponing or canceling joint military exercises,{{cite news|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/01/25/asia-pacific/announcement-koreans-pyongyang-calls-unification-end-u-s-military-exercises/|title=In announcement to all Koreans, Pyongyang calls for unification and end to U.S. military exercises|work=The Japan Times|first=Jesse|last=Johnson|date=January 25, 2018|access-date=October 10, 2018|archive-date=October 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011053532/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/01/25/asia-pacific/announcement-koreans-pyongyang-calls-unification-end-u-s-military-exercises/|url-status=live}} the effects of United Nations actions regarding human rights in North Korea{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/19/world/asia/north-korea-united-nations-icc-human-rights-abuses.html|title=United Nations Urges North Korea Prosecutions|work=The New York Times|first=Rick|last=Gladstone|date=November 18, 2014|access-date=October 10, 2018}} and whether North Korea will attack South Korea.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2013/04/north-korea-climbdown/|title=Ex-CIA Analyst Expects North Korea to Attack South Korea Before Tensions End|magazine=Wired|first=Spencer|last=Ackerman|date=April 4, 2013|access-date=October 10, 2018|archive-date=October 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011013845/https://www.wired.com/2013/04/north-korea-climbdown/|url-status=live}}
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.{{Cite news |last=Fahy |first=Claire |date=2024-07-16 |title=U.S. Accuses Former C.I.A. Analyst of Working for South Korea |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/16/nyregion/sue-mi-terry-cia-south-korea.html |access-date=2024-07-16 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=2024-07-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240716214138/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/16/nyregion/sue-mi-terry-cia-south-korea.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Stempel |first=Jonathan |date=July 16, 2024 |title=Former White House official is indicted for acting as South Korea agent |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ex-white-house-official-indicted-acting-south-korea-agent-2024-07-16/ |access-date=July 16, 2024 |work=Reuters}} Terry coauthored an opinion piece for The Washington 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.{{Cite news|last1=Schaffer|first1=Aaron|last2=Nakashima|first2=Ellen|date=July 16, 2024|title=Ex-CIA analyst accused of working for South Korean intelligence service|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/07/16/terry-south-korea-cia-fara/|newspaper=The Washington Post|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240717215220/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/07/16/terry-south-korea-cia-fara/|archive-date=July 17, 2024|url-status=live}}
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.{{cite web |title=US accuses North Korea expert Sue Mi Terry of working for South Korean spies {{!}} NK News |url=https://www.nknews.org/2024/07/us-accuses-north-korea-expert-sue-mi-terry-of-spying-for-south-korea/ |website=NK News - North Korea News |access-date=24 July 2024 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240717092354/https://www.nknews.org/2024/07/us-accuses-north-korea-expert-sue-mi-terry-of-spying-for-south-korea/ |archive-date=17 July 2024 |date=17 July 2024}} Following suspension, Terry resigned from her role at the Council on Foreign Relations.{{Cite web |last=Schaffer |first=Michael |date=2 August 2024 |title=Max Boot Called Trump a Foreign Asset. Now His Wife Is Indicted for Just That. |url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/08/02/sue-mi-terry-south-korean-agent-indictment-column-00172298 |access-date=1 September 2024 |website=Politico}}
The indictment has been criticized by former White House Counsel Gregory B. Craig,{{Cite news |title=Gregory B. Craig, "The Perils of Expertise: How the DOJ Indictment of Sue Mi Terry Can Chill the Think Tank World," Just Security, August 12, 2024. |url=https://www.justsecurity.org/98543/fara-sue-mi-terry/}} attorney Philip Rottner,{{Cite web |title=Philip Rotner, "The Inexplicable Prosecution of Sue Mi Terry," July 30, 2024. |url=https://philiprotner.com/2024/07/30/the-inexplicable-prosecution-of-sue-mi-terry/}} 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.{{Cite journal |title=Gregory B. Craig, "The Perils of Expertise: How the DOJ Indictment of Sue Mi Terry Can Chill the Think Tank World," Just Security, August 12, 2024. |url=https://www.justsecurity.org/98543/fara-sue-mi-terry/ |journal=Just Security}}
Terry's attorneys have filed a motion asking the court to dismiss the charges on the grounds that the government has not presented any evidence that Terry willfully violated FARA.{{Cite news |last=Bremer |first=Ifgang |date=February 28, 2025 |title=North Korea expert Sue Mi Terry files motions to dismiss foreign influence case |url=https://knightcolumbia.org/cases/united-states-v-terry |url-status=live |work=NK News}} In early March, the three leading civil liberties organizations - the ACLU, the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, and the Reporters Committee on Freedom of the Press - filed "amicus" (friend of the court) briefs supporting the motion from Terry's attorneys to dismiss the case.{{Cite news |last=Lippman |first=Daniel |date=March 6, 2025 |title=First Amendment groups go to bat in Terry case. |url=https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-influence/2025/03/06/first-amendment-groups-go-to-bat-in-terry-case-00217032 |url-status=live |work=Politico}} The Reporters Committee wanted that the government's use of FARA to indict Terry "poses a unique and acute threat to press freedom".{{Cite news |date=March 5, 2025 |title=United States v. Terry: Applying the Foreign Agents Registration Act to interactions with foreign sources and other journalistic activity would chill newsgathering. |url=https://knightcolumbia.org/cases/united-states-v-terry |url-status=live |work=Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press}} The ACLU/Knight Institute brief argues that "interpreting FARA broadly (...) raises serious First Amendment concerns."{{Cite news |date=March 5, 2025 |title=ACLU and Knight Institute Urge Court to Construe Foreign Agent Registration Act Narrowly. |url=https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-and-knight-institute-urge-court-to-construe-foreign-agent-registration-act-narrowly |url-status=live |work=ACLU Press release}}
Other works
= Documentary =
Terry was a co-producer of Beyond Utopia, an Emmy-nominated{{Cite web |date=2024-07-20 |title="Beyond Utopia" Nominated for a 2024 Emmy Award |url=https://hrf.org/beyond-utopia-nominated-for-a-2024-emmy-award |access-date=2024-08-15 |publisher=Human Rights Foundation}} documentary that largely centers around Pastor Seungeun Kim, a South Korean human rights activist and director of the Caleb Mission, which has rescued over 1,000 North Korean defectors since 2000.
= Articles =
- This nascent trilateral relationship is the best possible answer to China, The Washington Post, May 27, 2024 (co-authored with Max Boot){{Cite news |last1=Boot |first1=Max |author-link=Max Boot |last2=Terry |first2=Sue Mi |date=May 27, 2024 |title=This nascent trilateral relationship is the best possible answer to China |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/05/27/united-states-japan-south-korea-relationship-deepens/ |access-date=June 1, 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}
- The Coming North Korean Crisis, Foreign Affairs, May 16, 2024{{Cite news |last=Terry |first=Sue Mi |date=2024-05-16 |title=The Coming North Korean Crisis |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/north-korea/coming-north-korean-crisis |access-date=2024-05-16 |work=Foreign Affairs |language=en-US |issn=0015-7120 |archive-date=2024-05-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240516062009/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/north-korea/coming-north-korean-crisis |url-status=live }}
- The Dangers of Overreacting to North Korea’s Provocations, Foreign Affairs, January 30, 2024{{Cite news |last=Terry |first=Sue Mi |date=2024-01-30 |title=The Dangers of Overreacting to North Korea's Provocations |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/north-korea/dangers-overreacting-north-koreas-provocations |access-date=2024-05-03 |work=Foreign Affairs |language=en-US |issn=0015-7120 |archive-date=2024-05-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240503034415/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/north-korea/dangers-overreacting-north-koreas-provocations |url-status=live }}
- The New North Korean Threat, Foreign Affairs, January 19, 2023{{Cite news |last=Terry |first=Sue Mi |date=2023-01-19 |title=The New North Korean Threat |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/north-korea/new-north-korean-threat |access-date=2024-05-03 |work=Foreign Affairs |language=en-US |issn=0015-7120 |archive-date=2024-05-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240503034414/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/north-korea/new-north-korean-threat |url-status=live }}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{C-SPAN|108479}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Terry, Sue Mi}}
Category:New York University alumni
Category:The Fletcher School at Tufts University alumni