The U.S. Justice Department has agreed to suspend prosecution against former CIA analyst and National Security Council official Sue Mi Terry, who was indicted on charges of acting as an unregistered agent for South Korea. The decision was announced in a deferred prosecution agreement filed Tuesday with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Terry, a foreign policy expert specializing in East Asia and the Korean Peninsula, was indicted in July 2024 on allegations that she accepted luxury goods and other gifts from the South Korean government in exchange for advocating Seoul’s policy positions. The indictment also accused her of sharing non-public information with South Korean intelligence officers and facilitating meetings between South Korean officials and their U.S. counterparts. Prosecutors said these activities began in 2013, two years after Terry left U.S. government service, and continued for approximately a decade.

Under the deferred prosecution deal, the charges against Terry will be dropped after 12 months, provided she complies with specified conditions, including travel restrictions and limitations on contacts with South Korean government representatives. The Justice Department did not provide detailed reasoning for the decision to defer prosecution, stating only that it determined the arrangement served the best interests of both the United States and Terry herself.

Terry’s attorney had earlier contested the charges, asserting that she had been critical of the South Korean government and that her interactions with it reflected the work of an independent analyst rather than that of a covert agent. He argued the indictment mischaracterized her role and activities. A statement from her counsel emphasized that Terry’s engagements with South Korean officials were always aligned with U.S. interests.

The deferred prosecution agreement allows Terry to avoid the immediate risk of conviction or incarceration, with her case scheduled for trial in the coming weeks prior to the agreement. The resolution concludes a case that highlighted the complexities of foreign influence and lobbying laws as they pertain to experts with ties to multiple governments.