Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Think Tanker Used Think Tanks to Help Spy for South Korea

Here is more from the New York Times:

Sue Mi Terry, a prominent voice on American foreign policy, had a refined palate, a love for top-shelf sushi and a taste for designer labels. She liked coats by Christian Dior, handbags by Bottega Veneta and Louis Vuitton, and Michelin-starred restaurants.

And, according to federal prosecutors in Manhattan, she accepted such luxury goods and other gifts in exchange for serving the South Korean government in Seoul.

Ms. Terry, a former Central Intelligence Agency analyst and a senior fellow for Korea studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, is accused in a 31-page indictment released Tuesday of a yearslong effort to assist South Korean spies. The indictment says she even introduced the spies to congressional staff members, an action that she described as “bringing the wolf in.”

In April 2023, Ms. Terry hosted an event at a think tank where she invited congressional staff members and worked to study South Korea’s alliance with the United States at the request of the South Korean National Intelligence Service. Ms. Terry then invited the staff members to a happy hour where South Korean intelligence officers were present, allowing the officers to “spot and assess” potential recruits, according to the indictment.

 

Before her current position as a Senior Fellow for Korea Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Terry worked at the Wilson Center and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

CFR has reportedly put Terry on unpaid administrative leave.

Terry's husband, Max Boot, a Russian-born naturalized American, has not been charged with any crime.  Boot is also a Senior Fellow at CFR.

Boot, who co-wrote a series of opinion pieces with Terry,  has signed a $500,000 "appearance bond" using the couple's Manhattan residence as collateral to keep Terri out of prison until her trial begins.

Update: Terry was suspended from her senior fellow position at CFR, and then resigned.  If convicted, she faces 10 years in prison.  No trial date has been set.