“Happy Hour” with a South Korean Spy in the US (Photos)

According to court documents, Soo Mi Terry, 54, a Seoul native who now lives in Manhattan, used her position as a foreign policy expert to gain access to senior U.S. officials in exchange for gifts, including a $3,450 Louis Vuitton bag, a $2,845 Dolce & Gabbana coat and a lavish dinner.

So Mi Terry with South Korean officials

Terry claims she began spying for South Korea in October 2013, five years following leaving the CIA, where she was an analyst on East Asia.

Over the next decade or so, she “disclosed sensitive U.S. government information to South Korean intelligence and used her position to influence U.S. policy in favor of South Korea,” in exchange for “money and lavish gifts,” Christie M. Curtis, acting assistant director of the FBI, said in a statement.

So Mi Terry

For example, Terry delivered handwritten notes regarding a private meeting related to North Korea in June 2022 with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to her South Korean intelligence official who met her in a car, according to the indictment unsealed Tuesday.

Weeks later, Terry hosted a “happy hour,” at the request of her handlers, allowing the South Korean spy to mingle with congressional staffers disguised as a diplomat.

Terry presents herself as an independent expert on U.S.-Korea relations, and she has also allegedly repeated talking points given to her by South Korean officials in articles published in the American and Korean press in recent years.

So Mi Terry

In return, her managers took her on shopping sprees, as described in court papers, where she selected expensive “gifts.”

South Korean officials also courted Terry by buying her dinners at upscale seafood, Greek and sushi restaurants in Manhattan and Washington, D.C., including several Michelin-starred restaurants.

Prosecutors alleged that a South Korean spy also bought a Dolce & Gabbana terry coat from a Chevy Chase, Maryland, store in November 2019, paying for it on his credit card but not paying sales tax because he had “diplomatic status.”

But the flashy outfit wasn’t to Terry’s taste, and she ended up returning it days later for a $4,100 Christian Dior coat and paying the difference, according to the indictment.

Intelligence officers also transferred more than $37,000 to the Korean Affairs Public Policy Program that Terri ran.

Federal authorities say Terry was wined and dined with her South Korean government officials at an upscale Greek restaurant in Manhattan.

Federal authorities say Terry failed to register as a foreign agent with the U.S. Department of Justice, and FBI agents warned her in 2014 that she might be a target of illegal foreign influence.

Federal authorities alleged that Terry was “visibly nervous” in her voluntary interview with federal investigators, and eventually admitted that she had met her South Korean handler following initially claiming she did not know his name.

The FBI says Terry’s handlers would take her on shopping trips where she would pick out luxury handbags from Bottega Veneta and Louis Vuitton.

From 2001 to 2011, Terry held a series of U.S. government positions, including as a CIA analyst and director for Korea, Japan and the Pacific on the White House National Security Council, federal officials say.

Court records show Terry was released on $500,000 bail during her initial appearance in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday.

She faces up to five years in prison if convicted of the charges of failure to register as a foreign agent and conspiracy to act as a foreign agent.

A surveillance camera image shows her National Intelligence Service handler buying her several handbags during her shift.

Her lawyer, Lee Wolosky, said in a statement that the accusations “are baseless and misrepresent the work of a researcher and analyst known for her independence and years of service to the United States.”

A spokeswoman for the Council on Foreign Relations said the council had placed Terry on unpaid administrative leave and that he would cooperate with federal authorities.

The Washington Post reported that Terry contributed to its opinion section and is married to the paper’s columnist, Max Boot.

Source: The Post