Former CIA analyst and North Korean affairs expert Sue Terry, who was indicted on charges of working for the South Korean government, has had the real names of South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) officers and partial Korean transcript records exposed. 〈From the July 17, 2024 edition, A-1 page〉
The federal prosecutors’ decision to reveal the real names about two years after the indictment is a clear indication that they are explicitly pointing to the South Korean government as the backer of Terry’s activities, ahead of the final evidentiary hearing scheduled for the 20th.
In an opinion letter submitted by federal prosecutors on the 28th of last month, the names of three NIS officials who were previously anonymized as ‘NIS Handler-1, 2, and 3’ were specified. The disclosed names are ‘Jin J. Koo’, ‘Seungwoo Steve Chun’, and ‘Hyungju Roh’.
According to federal prosecutors, Terry contacted them sequentially while working for the South Korean government for about 10 years. The brief contains details that Koo has been in contact with Terry since 2013, Chun since 2017, and Roh since August 2020. In particular, the brief also contains some Korean dialogue exchanged between Terry and ‘Hyungju Roh’ in March 2023 regarding the publication of a book on foreign policy. Prosecutors referred to them as NIS ‘handlers’ who operated under diplomatic status, claiming they worked under ‘diplomatic cover’.
Prosecutors stated that Terry described herself as a ‘source’ for the NIS during an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). They also presented the fact that Chun handed over contact with Terry to Roh in 2020 as circumstantial evidence showing a continuous relationship.
On the other hand, Terry is denying the charges. Terry’s side countered that exchanges with foreign government officials are a common activity for Washington diplomatic and security experts, and that prosecutors are exaggerating this as a secret relationship with an intelligence agency.
Terry served as a senior analyst covering Korean Peninsula issues at the CIA from 2001 to 2008. Afterward, she served as the director for Korea, Japan, and Oceanic Affairs at the White House National Security Council (NSC) and then as deputy national intelligence officer for East Asia at the National Intelligence Council (NIC). However, she has been accused of receiving gifts and hospitality, such as expensive designer bags, and working for the South Korean government since 2013.
Meanwhile, suspicions have recently been raised in South Korea that the approval of visa and diplomatic status for some NIS employees dispatched to the U.S. has been delayed. In response, the NIS stated on the 6th that some delays are due to visa procedures related to personal status and have nothing to do with South Korea-U.S. intelligence cooperation.
