US defers prosecution of ex‑CIA analyst Sue Mi Terry under 12‑month deal

The US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York has agreed to suspend the prosecution of Sue Mi Terry under a deferred prosecution agreement, the CNA report says. The indictment against Terry was returned in July 2024, and prosecutors alleged she acted as an unregistered agent for South Korea over a decade.

Under the terms reported by CNA, the charges will be dropped after 12 months if Terry abides by conditions laid out in the deal.

CNA's account states the indictment accused Terry of accepting luxury goods and other gifts, disclosing non-public information to South Korean intelligence officers, and helping to arrange access between South Korean officials and their US counterparts.

Prosecutors say the alleged conduct began in 2013, two years after Terry left US government employment, and continued for 10 years, including while she served as a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

The deferred prosecution agreement imposes specific limits on Terry's movements and contacts, including restrictions on her travel and contacts with the government of South Korea, CNA reports. If she complies with those conditions for 12 months, the case will be dismissed entirely, according to the same account.

CNA also notes that the Justice Department did not offer further explanation beyond its determination that deferring prosecution would serve the interests of the US and of Terry.

CNA reports that Terry acknowledged assisting South Korean intelligence officers in several ways; one example cited in the article is that she shared notes she had prepared for a 2022 meeting between senior State Department officials and Korea policy experts.

The article says the deferred deal came weeks before the case was due to go to trial, and cites the New York Times for that timing. The CNA piece identifies Sue Mi Terry as a former CIA analyst and White House National Security Council official and notes her role as director at Bower Group Asia in a photo caption.

Headlines from other outlets, including Reuters and regional outlets, reflect the same core development but the detailed terms and the examples of alleged assistance are drawn from the CNA text.

The Justice Department's stated rationale, as reported by CNA, was limited to saying deferring prosecution best served the US and Terry's interests; the department did not provide additional explanation in the CNA account.

The CNA article supplies the chronology prosecutors allege, the principal allegations in the indictment, the compliance conditions of the deferred deal and a cited example of acknowledged assistance to South Korean intelligence officers.