Shame on the amateurish spy agents

Spy issues can evolve into a serious diplomatic standoff.

Sue Mi Terry — a former CIA analyst and White House adviser on North Korean affairs — was arrested on allegations of working as an unreported spy for the South Korean intelligence agency. According to the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, prosecutors charged Terry — currently a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations — for violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) by providing South Korean intelligence officers with access, information and advocacy.

The indictment says that she began working with South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) agents, or “handlers,” posing as diplomats in South Korea’s UN Mission and Washington embassy. It claimed that Terry promoted Korean positions in her public appearances and handed over U.S. government information and contacts to the handlers in exchange for luxury handbags, gifts, expensive dinners and more than $37,000 in funding for her public policy program. Her activity amounted to one count of conspiracy violating FARA and another count of failure to register under FARA, each carrying a maximum sentence of five years. Terry denied all the charges.

Intelligence has become a pricey asset in modern society. Ingenious and innovative means are being employed, even at the risk of costing lives. Secrecy is the key to intelligence accumulation. One misstep can cost the shutdown of all routes and lead to international humiliation. The photos disclosed by prosecutors — showing “handlers” buying and carrying luxury handbags for Terry in public areas — can only paint Korean agents as amateurish.

Despite its admirable list of achievements, the NIS has made several major pratfalls. An NIS attaché working at the Russian embassy was caught in 1998 for trying to steal information related to North Korea. Robert Kim, a naturalized U.S. naval intelligence analyst, was arrested for passing classified military documents to a military attaché with the South Korean embassy. NIS agents even caused a diplomatic conundrum for breaking into a hotel room occupied by Indonesian presidential envoys in 2011 in search of the country’s secrets for a defense contract.

Spy issues can evolve into a serious diplomatic standoff. Seoul and Moscow expelled intelligence officers in a tit-for-tat action in 1998, souring the bilateral relationship for some time. Seoul-Washington ties built up tension over Seoul’s alleged lobbying activities in 1976 to prevent the pullout of U.S. armed forces in South Korea. U.S. authorities went public with the latest tribulation while South-U.S. relations are the best. The government must do its utmost to prevent the affair from damaging the alliance. It must explain itself fully and apologize if necessary. Making amends is important between friends.