Opposition party slams presidential office over response to U.S. expert’s indictment

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) slammed the presidential office Friday for suggesting the preceding Moon Jae-in administration should be held responsible for the exposure of South Korean intelligence operations in an indictment against a Korean American expert. Sue Mi Terry, a renowned foreign policy expert who previously worked for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, was indicted in New York this week on charges of acting as an unregistered agent for the South Korean government from 2013 until last year. This screenshot shows an Aug. 19, 2022, post on the presidential office's website sharing Sue Mi Terry's op-ed piece for Foreign Policy, titled "Yoon's Strong Start in Foreign Policy." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) In response, a senior presidential official told reporters Thursday the government will consider inspecting and reprimanding Moon administration officials as the alleged dealings between Terry and National Intelligence Service officers took place during the former president's term. "The presidential office is idly blaming the former administration, but can the Yoon Suk Yeol government really claim not to know Sue Mi Terry at all?" DP Rep. Ko Min-jung said during a Supreme Council meeting of the party, citing a post on the presidential office's website that shared Terry's op-ed, "Yoon's Strong Start in Foreign Policy," published by U.S. magazine Foreign Policy in August 2022. DP Rep. Yun Kun-young went further to claim Terry had more dealings with NIS officers during the Yoon administration than during the preceding Moon or Park Geun-hye administrations, saying the indictment shows eight instances under Park, 12 under Moon and 20 under Yoon. "The Park Geun-hye government was the 'contact' phase, the Moon Jae-in government the 'winning over' phase and the Yoon Suk Yeol government the 'utilization' phase," he said during an interview on MBC radio. Source: Yonhap News Agency