U.S. defers Sue Mi Terry prosecution, but imposes limits on South Korean contacts
The former CIA analyst accepted a 12-month deferred prosecution agreement after admitting to receiving gifts and other benefits from South Korean intelligence officials.
Sue Mi Terry speaks on a "Crisis on the Peninsula: Implications for the U.S. - Korea Alliance" panel at the Asia Society in New York, on June 19, 2017.REUTERS/YONHAP
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department has agreed to defer prosecution of former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst Sue Mi Terry, who was charged in 2024 with secretly acting for South Korea’s intelligence service, according to court documents filed on Tuesday.
Terry was arrested and indicted in July 2024 on charges of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). The law requires people acting on behalf of foreign governments or other foreign principals to register with the U.S. Attorney General. The U.S. federal prosecutors accused Terry of deliberately failing to do so. She was accused of providing South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) officers access to information and receiving luxury items in exchange. She was not in a U.S. government post at the time.
Prosecutors submitted documents stating that they had entered into a deferred prosecution agreement, or DPA, with Terry.
A DPA differs from South Korea’s system of suspending prosecution. Under U.S. procedure, prosecution is stayed for a specified period, and the charges are dismissed if the defendant complies with the agreement. It is not an acquittal, and prosecution can resume if the defendant violates the terms. The statute of limitations is also suspended during the deferral period.
The agreement was announced just weeks before Terry was scheduled to stand trial in federal court in Manhattan.
The DPA obtained by JoongAng Ilbo sets the deferral period at 12 months.
Restrictions on Terry’s contacts with South Korean officials are at the center of the agreement.
The DPA includes standard conditions such as a requirement not to violate the law, to report any change of residence and not to travel outside the continental United States without permission.
Separate “special conditions” applying specifically to Terry are laid out in Sections 6 through 8.
The U.S. Department of Justice logo is seen on a podium in Washington.AP/YONHAP
Section 6 states that Terry shall not knowingly “communicate” with any officer or employee of the NIS. The agreement also requires advance approval from Pretrial Services for all planned contact with South Korean government officials.
Terry must also notify the supervisory agency within 48 hours of any unexpected contact with South Korean government officials.
The condition effectively restricts her contact not only with NIS officials but also with South Korean government officials more broadly. Such contact is not itself considered a crime, but the provision indicates that prosecutors viewed it as conduct directly related to the allegations underlying the deferred prosecution.
Section 6 also names the same three NIS employees who had contact with Terry and whose identities prosecutors disclosed in a court filing last month.
Section 7 requires Terry to file a FARA registration if she engages in conduct that triggers a registration obligation under the law.
Section 8 bars Terry from accepting gifts worth more than $100 from a foreign government without permission from her U.S. pretrial services officer.
The documents also include an “Agreed Statement of Facts” accepted by Terry.
A South Korean National Intelligence Service handler, far right, pays for an item for Sue Mi Terry, left, then a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, at a Louis Vuitton store in Washington, in April 2021, in this photo screenshotted from an indictment filed by the U.S. Justice Department.SCREEN CAPTURE
Terry acknowledged receiving a Bottega Veneta handbag, a Louis Vuitton handbag and a Dolce & Gabbana coat worth a combined $9,245 from NIS employees. She also admitted that NIS employees paid for her meals at restaurants on at least 19 occasions.
Terry also acknowledged that she raised about $37,000 from the South Korean Embassy in Washington for an institution where she worked after undisclosed conversations with an NIS employee. The institution received two checks issued directly by the embassy.
Prosecutors had previously stated in a court filing that the money came from the highest levels of the NIS, but that assertion was omitted from the latest documents.
Terry also admitted that she passed notes to an NIS employee after a 2022 meeting with then-U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Sue Mi Terry, far left, has dinner with two handlers from South Korea's National Intelligence Service at a Greek restaurant in Manhattan, New York, on August 2020, in this photo screenshotted from an indictment filed by the U.S. Justice Department.SCREEN CAPTURE
Terry also admitted that she organized a South Korean government-funded event attended by NIS employees, which included a happy hour for congressional staffers. She also acknowledged writing an opinion piece after sounding out a Korean government official.
The admissions cover many of the acts Terry had previously sought to exclude as evidence, a request the court rejected.
The agreement, however, does not include an admission that Terry intentionally violated FARA.
Prosecutors’ decision to accept the agreement could suggest they placed greater value on securing Terry’s formal acknowledgment of conduct connected to the NIS than on proving an intentional violation of the law in court.
The case has also heightened scrutiny of activity carried out on behalf of the South Korean government.
The prosecution said they determined "that the interests of the United States and [Terry’s] own interest will be best served by deferring prosecution."
Sue Mi Terry speaks at a conference at the Jeju Peace Forum held at the Jeju Convention Center on May 29, 2024.YONHAP
Her attorney emphasized that Terry had served her country “loyally for many years” and is pleased with the outcome.
“We have consistently maintained that her interactions with South Korean officials were conducted in furtherance of U.S. interests and her work as a leading American specialist on North Korea and East Asia,” her attorney said.
Terry, who was born in Seoul and grew up in Virginia, worked as a senior CIA analyst from 2001 to 2008. She later served as director for South Korea, Japan and Oceanic Affairs at the U.S. National Security Council from 2008 to 2009 under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
