Enact a Korean version of FARA

The cornerstone of Korea’s national security should be a Korean version of FARA as we can establish the foreign espionage act on top of it.

Choo Jae-wooThe author is a professor of Chinese Foreign Policy in the Department of Chinese Studies at Kyung Hee University. U.S. federal prosecutors recently indicted Sue Mi Terry, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), for working for the South Korean government without registering with the U.S. government. Terry is a Korean American international political scientist who has held key positions at the Central Intelligence Agency, the White House National Security Council and the National Intelligence Council.

She was accused of acting as an unregistered foreign agent for the Korean government in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which is administered by the U.S. Department of Justice. Former lawmaker Choi Jae-hyung of the governing People Power Party (PPP) had introduced a bill similar to FARA in June last year, but it was automatically shelved as it had never been deliberated in the National Assembly before the session ended.

Since the Sue Mi Terry indictment reignited the need for such a law in Korea, Rep. Choi Soo-jin of the PPP reintroduced the bill. Taking into account the current reality of Korea, this bill’s significance and importance are greater than ever.

In the unsealed indictment, federal prosecutors noted that Terry had several opportunities to register under FARA. The obligation was raised during the three U.S. Congressional hearings she had attended since 2016, and in 2022, Terry even received training on FARA. In June 2023, she admitted to being a source of information for Korea during an interview with the FBI but ignored the process, according to the indictment.

FARA is essential to a liberal democracy. It guarantees the freedom of foreigners to come and go as they please — and ensures their freedom of actions and activities. But there is one precondition: This freedom is only granted if they comply with the laws and norms of the foreign country.

Likewise, Korean citizens who interact with foreign countries or foreigners also must comply with the relevant laws in those countries in order to freely interact with them. As Korea is a liberal democracy, the country is open to foreigners and foreign organizations. So it is inevitable that more and more Koreans will be engaged in activities related to them.

Korea is undeniably a global country. It receives over 13 million foreign visitors annually and hosts 1,835 foreign corporations as of 2022. Last year, there were more than 2.5 million foreigners living in Korea. There are also many Koreans who interact with them or work for these foreign entities. Under such circumstances, Korea needs a law similar to FARA. The rationale and necessity are already there.

A Korean version of FARA would require those foreign nationals and entities — and the Korean nationals involved with them — to register with the Ministry of Justice when they act as foreign agents. But the bill proposed by Rep. Choi Soo-jin needs some modifications. According to her bill, exemptions from the registration duty are listed as the persons engaged solely in activities related to religion, academia, art or scientific research, but the bill should be amended to include them. That means that citizens of allies that are important to Korea’s national defense also should be covered by the law. We must learn a lesson from the Sue Mi Terry’s indictment.

The cornerstone of Korea’s national security should be a Korean version of FARA as we can establish the foreign espionage act on top of it. Article 98 of the Criminal Act stipulates the offense of espionage. Currently, it is only applicable to espionage for the enemy state — in other words, North Korea.

In the global era after the end of Cold War, it is impossible to specify an enemy state. In the era of endless competition, the idea of trusting allies is also anachronistic. This is why we need to replace “the enemy state” with “foreign countries” in the existing Espionage Law. The first step is enacting a Korean version of FARA.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.